Formula 1 could be looking at another landmark off-track announcement with reports suggesting Adrain Newey could be seeking pastures new outside of Red Bull, but should the design supremo seek a new challenge, who are the potential suitors?
Ferrari:
Perhaps the most glamorous or even the most obvious choice given the Maranello-based outfit has tried to lure Newey away from Milton Keynes in the past, but Ferrari is on paper the most desirable choice on offer.
Revitalised under the stewardship of Team Principal Fred Vasseur and boasting arguably the most-talented driver lineup in 2025 in Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, designing the Scuderia’s first title-winning car since 2007 could be too tempting a prospect for Newey.
Auto Motor und Sport predicts Ferrari to be Newey’s preferred landing spot. This claim has been backed up by Sky Sports F1’s Craig Slater reporting that Aston Martin insiders believe Newey is set for a position at Maranello.
Should it come to pass, Ferrari could return to form the likes of which the Tifosi haven’t seen since the turn of the century. Newey has racked up titles galore at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull and to do so with F1’s most-storied team would be a chapter befitting a legendary Grand Prix engineer.
The 65-year-old has stated “emotional regret” in the past for having never teamed up with either the Scuderia or its new seven-time title-winning driver acquisition, now he could have the chance to do both.
Aston Martin:
Lawrence Stroll isn’t afraid to throw money at a challenge when it comes to his title ambitions with Aston Martin. An all-new facility at Silverstone has come in the wake of hiring former Newey Red Bull pupil Dan Fallows as Technical Director.
Furthermore, Stroll has lured in the likes of former Mercedes Aerodynamicist Eric Blandin to serve as Fallows’ Deputy Technical Director and legendary Grand Prix driver Fernando Alonso to spearhead Aston Martin’s driving efforts.
In addition, Aston Martin’s standing in 2026 could be lofty given it is entering a works engine deal with Honda. The Japanese marque’s engines currently sit incognito in the back of the championship-winning Red Bulls and Newey has a familiar working relationship with Honda engineers.
What’s more, Newey has reportedly already been approached by Stroll earlier in the season.
It is said that Aston Martin approached Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer in Saudi Arabia back in March with an alleged big-money offer. The draw to join Aston Martin, aside from a financial incentive is an altogether different prospect from the one offered by Ferrari.
Firstly, Aston Martin’s Silverstone base means Newey and his family wouldn’t need to relocate – although a couple of years living in sunny Maranello doesn’t sound like an ordeal. Still, whereas leading the technical team at Ferrari would mean reinvigorating a team to its former glory, heading to Aston Martin would mean building a project for an outfit that has never tasted Championship success and only came close once as Jordan in 1999. Could Newey be tempted to bring ‘Team Silverstone’ its first title whilst under the iconic British banner of Aston Martin?
Mercedes:
If there’s a big team in F1 in desperate need of a technical revolution, it is Mercedes. A run of eight straight Constructors’ titles from 2014 to 2021 has been followed by head-scratching and design dead-ends as the Brackley-based squad attempts to grapple with the ground effect regulations.
However, Ferrari and Aston Martin are two teams on the up with plenty of cards in hand to lure someone of Newey’s stature with. Mercedes is a different prospect and in this case, it is more the team needing Newey rather than the other way around – although this could be said of any team that isn’t Red Bull.
Regardless, Mercedes could pull off an unbelievable double-coo if it manages to tempt its number one driver target for 2025, a certain Max Verstappen. Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has made his courtship of the Dutchman public and seems desperate to sign the services of the driver that slipped through his grasp just over a decade ago.
Reports indicate the Verstappen camp will sit down with Wolff, Mercedes and Sir Jim Ratcliffe in Miami, meaning the once perceived impossible is turning towards potentially probable.
Should Wolff snatch Verstappen out of Red Bull’s grasp, it is said the Dutchman will require plenty of his current colleagues to join him in the Brackley-based squad’s ranks.
That type of move reeks of familiarity. Two decades ago F1’s hottest property Michael Schumacher left the comfort of title-winning Benetton to drive for the down-on-its-luck Ferrari, eventually dragging the likes of Ross Brawn and Rory Byrne with him to form a resurgent super team.
A Verstappen signature at the Silver Arrows could mean history repeats itself somewhat and Newey comes along for the ride.
McLaren:
Could Newey be tempted to reunite with a former employer? The F1 design guru led McLaren to back-to-back titles in 1998 and 1999. Kimi Raikkonen missed out narrowly on two tiles in Newey-designed McLarens in 2003 and ’05 so the Woking-based team represents a chance to settle unfinished business for F1’s most-storied designer.
Back in his early days at McLaren Newey attempted to bring former Williams running mate Damon Hill into the fold and the 1996 Drivers’ Champion turned Sky Sports F1 broadcaster believes a stint in papaya would be ideal for the man who conjured the dominant FW18.
“They’re [McLaren] definitely a team on the make,” Hill told Sky Sports F1 when assessing the former Grand Prix giants as a potential suitor for Newey. In the latter half of 2023, it often appeared that Newey’s impeccable RB19 co-creation was the only car that could better a McLaren. Still, the rapid rate of progression for the team stewarded by Andrea Stella has tempered somewhat in 2024, but a fine podium for Lando Norris in Shanghai shows the squad remains on the up.
However, a complex technical structure with multiple department heads has already wrought peculiar changes. Well-regarded former Ferrari engineer took on a year of gardening leave to join McLaren at the start of 2024 only to leave a few short months into his tenure at the team with both parties misaligned over the nature of his role.
There’s a case to be made that there are too many cooks at Woking and perhaps Newey, with more tempting suitors aside, could be put off by the bloated technical structure at McLaren.
Sauber:
A wildcard option of sorts as Sauber has little skin in the game when it comes to the Newey conversation. However, Sauber is an intriguing proposition that shouldn’t be overlooked. The struggling Swiss-based outfit represents a near-blank sheet of paper crying out for the design mastery of someone like Newey to lead it into its bright, bold Audi future.
The might of the German auto giant alone could be sufficient to lure Newey to Hinwil and the Audi proposition isn’t too dissimilar from the one Red Bull presented back in 2006. Joining Audi represents the chance to build a project from the ground up and bring it to the front of the grid. Newey achieved it once before, he could do it again. Still, with the likes of Ferrari and Aston Martin chasing his signature, Sauber/Audi would have to wait at the back of the queue if it seriously considered Newey as an option.
