Adrian Newey admits to having ’emotional regrets’ for not working with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso

Adrian Newey never got a chance to design F1 machinery for Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso.

Adrian Newey admits to having ’emotional regrets’ for not working with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso

Lewis Hamilton [L], Adrian Newey [C], Fernando Alonso [R], (images via IMAGO)

Adrian Newey is considered one of the brightest minds on the F1 grid. The 64-year-old has won multiple world titles in the sport over the years with Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull. The Briton has served as the technical head of Red Bull Racing for over a decade. Now, Newey has admitted that he does regret not working with Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.

Firstly, the British Aero genius mentioned that emotionally, he regrets not working for Scuderia Ferrari in Formula 1. Newey revealed that he was in talks with Maranello twice, in 1993 and 2014. However, both times, Adrian Newey decided against switching to the Italian giant. The 64-year-old claimed that not being on the same teams as Hamilton or Alonso was a similar regret for the Red Bull Chief Technical Officer.

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However, Newey blamed the circumstances for not getting a chance to work in the same squad as Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso over the years. The 64-year-old was asked on Beyond the Grid podcast if he regretted not being a part of Ferrari. He replied (H&T: Motorsport.com), “Emotionally, I guess, to a point. Yes. But just as, for instance, working with Fernando and Lewis would have been fabulous. But it never happened. It’s just circumstance sometimes, that’s the way it is.”

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Also Read: Adrian Newey gives his verdict on the prospect of Fernando Alonso joining Max Verstappen at Red Bull

Adrian Newey played a major role in Red Bull’s domination

Newey joined Red Bull after leaving McLaren in 2006. The Briton took a gamble on the Austrian team in its early days. The gamble paid off as Milton Keynes had all the resources to become a front-runner. Subsequently, Adrian Newey spearheaded the team’s development, which led to its first era of domination with Sebastian Vettel between 2010 and 2013.

Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Newey (image via CNN)
Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Newey (image via CNN)

The Austrian team remained a top team despite falling behind Mercedes in the Turbo Hybrid era. Nevertheless, Red Bull would have the advantage in chassis-centric tracks like Monaco, where Newey’s designs would shine. Eventually, Milton Keynes regained its position at the top of the grid. Max Verstappen has annihilated the competition since the start of the ground-effect era in 2022.

As such, Adrian Newey has continued to show his brilliance in F1 through his latest designs for Red Bull. However, the 64-year-old has worked on projects outside of F1 as part of Red Bull Advanced Technologies as well. Certainly, the Briton will go down in history as one of the most influential figures in the modern era, with much more success still to come.

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