A few weeks ago, Aramco had approached Adrian Newey and other senior technical figures. The aim was to attract Max Verstappen as the civil war at Red Bull continued to play out. In this unpredictable environment, Lawrence Stroll is reportedly willing to sell minority shares of Aston Martin. However, Alonso’s new long-term contract seems a clear indication that Verstappen is beyond reach for Aston.
This is despite the Dutchman’s respect for Honda, who are already working on the 2026 engines with the technicians at Silverstone. Verstappen is still winning consistently, but this does not mean everything is calm at Red Bull behind the scenes.
Mercedes, in the words of Toto Wolff, seems to have an aggressive strategy to rectify its current pace. The most successful team of the hybrid era does not understand these ground effect cars. The official explanation is that Mercedes has a correlation problem.
On the track, the car behaves differently to what the wind tunnel suggests – and not for the better. However, the team’s technical, methodological and ideational process also seems significant.
The hiring of Simone Resta, Allison’s trusted man in his time at Ferrari, and Enrico Sampò, team leader of the Maranello simulation group, are partly to help address this issue. It is very clear that for Toto Wolff to take advantage of the cracks in Red Bull and try to take Verstappen, perhaps with Newey, would represent a huge response to the loss of Hamilton and the bad results.
At the same time, this is not an easy task. It is also worth considering how Newey’s arrival would impact James Allison’s role. Regardless, Toto Wolff does not require any invitations to try to destabilise Red Bull. Therefore, it is unsurprising that Mercedes are trying everything possible to sign Verstappen. Nonetheless, the Silver Arrows need to improve their performance if the Dutchman is to join them in 2025.
In the medium term, from 2026, Mercedes are still very attractive – thanks to the new era of Power units.
NEWEY IN FERRARI IS POSSIBLE, PROVIDED IT CAN HAPPEN QUICKLY
Adrian Newey’s exit from Red Bull should be clarified quickly. If the most famous engineer in F1 does not want to stay in Milton Keynes, this essentially depends on the climate within the team. It seems plausible that he does not already have any solid agreement with the competition.
If he is only available in 2027, taking into account the necessary adaptation period necessary to make an impact, he cannot fit into the plans of Ferrari or Mercedes so easily. Spending three years to construct a technical that – ultimately – would only be transitional is far from optimal. This would create the internal frictions and conflicts present at Maranello after Ross Brawn’s departure. This is something to avoid.
However, if Newey is available within 12 months, then he could be a critical reinforcement in time for 2026. Newey’s expertise is obviously hugely valuable for a new regulation change. Maranello is prepared to offer Newey a lot, over 50% more than its earnings and significant freedoms.
Retirement cannot be ruled out – Adrian Newey is full of surprises
The F1 guru showed his courageous and surprising streak when he left Woking. But at present, realistically, it is not wrong to ask whether Adrian Newey wants to stop. Of course, he could take on a new challenge, such as designing the 2026 cars. And if he wants to do so, whether he has an interest in clashing with the structure that he himself created and which for a while has been in the hands of Waché, who was also strongly courted, even before him.
In short, can the designer have the same impact as a part-time super consultant with the same success as in the past? Or, in the end, he may choose to stay in the beloved English countryside.
I don’t think there is any doubt that Horner and Red Bull Racing owe a debt of gratitude to Newey. After all, he left McLaren and threw himself into a lawsuit and plenty of unknowns before leading Red Bull to success in 2010 with Vettel. Maybe the time has come to repay that debt, whatever he wants to do unless he decides to retire from F1 activities.
A former McLaren driver once said of Newey: “If you want a close Championship, you have to give him a lot of money and make him stay at home!”.
