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Ferrari is understood to be working hard to secure Adrian Newey’s services for when the outgoing Red Bull Formula 1 technical chief becomes available in early 2025.
Newey will leave Red Bull in the first quarter of 2025 after nearly two decades with the team.
That exit point is a crucial development as Newey’s contract, which he had only renegotiated last year, ran until the end of 2025 and is understood to have contained a 12-month non-compete clause.
Were that enforced, Newey would be unable to work for another team until the start of 2027 - already 12 months into a new set of technical regulations, something Newey has been so effective at exploiting.
Aided by his close friend and manager Eddie Jordan, though, Newey has secured an early Red Bull exit that would allow him to join another team in the first few months of 2025.
Newey’s status inevitably means several teams would covet his services but Ferrari is widely believed to be by far the most appealing move - if he decides he wants to stay in F1 as part of the “new challenges” he says he seeks after Red Bull.
No deal has been done but it was reported by Gazzetta della Sport that Newey had met with Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur in London in the week before the Miami Grand Prix.
Ferrari will not confirm or deny this but Vasseur - whose only comment is that he has nothing to say - is understood to be pushing to make it happen.
If Newey were to join Ferrari at his first availability, Ferrari will already be well advanced with its 2026 car. But not so far that Newey couldn’t use his insight and knowledge to influence the final design.
Newey’s golden attribute is his ability to think laterally, which has repeatedly been evidenced whenever there is a new formula.
His understanding of the dynamic nature of the relative importance of each of the performance factors, and the ease with which he surrenders previous conventions or reintroduces old ones, has so often set the team he works for off into a different direction to the others that has then become the widely copied blueprint.
The 1998 McLaren, 2009 Red Bull and 2022 Red Bull are prime examples, and the 2026 car and engine regulations offer a clear opportunity for a repeat.
Newey would be a massive addition to a project that has gained serious momentum over the last 12 months.
Vasseur has been backed extensively by Ferrari chairman John Elkann since being appointed Ferrari team boss ahead of the 2023 season, as Mattia Binotto’s successor.
The Elkann/Vasseur era has already lured Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes in a blockbuster driver swoop and tempting Newey would be a massive technical coup on top of other moves such as signing Mercedes’ performance director Loic Serra.
Asked on Thursday in Miami how much Hamilton would like to see Newey join him at Ferrari, the seven-time world champion replied: “Very much.”
Hamilton, who also said Newey would be “at the top of” of the list of people he’d like to work with, added: “Adrian’s got such a great track record, and he’s obviously done an amazing job through his career.
“He’d be an amazing addition. Ferrari’s already got a great team, made great strides this season, but it would be a privilege to work with him.”
His future team-mate Charles Leclerc, already at Ferrari, struck a very similar tone - openly acknowledging that he would be "very happy" if a move for Newey came off.
"I think Adrian is one of those guys in the paddock that you hope to be working with one day in your career," said Leclerc.
"We have an incredible team in Ferrari at the moment, in the last seven-to-eight months we are the team that have progressed the most. However, adding Adrian to a team like this would be amazing."
He also described Ferrari as having "for sure" put itself in a better position over the last year to pursue signings of Newey's calibre.
"I'm really happy with how it goes, and I think we are in a good place to attract the best people in the world.
"We are a really-really good team already. But whatever and whoever can come to make it even stronger is super important, and Adrian is one of those guys that can make a difference."
