Is Newey making the switch to Ferrari? 'I just don't believe that'
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
With the news of Adrian Newey planning to leave Red Bull Racing, Ferrari fans in Italy have started to dream: After all, would the master designer switch to the iconic Italian team? Although the Italian media assume that Newey will indeed eventually come to Maranello, Ivan Capelli - former F1 driver and close friend of Newey - thinks it will not be the sudden rush that they are presuming.
Capelli, born in 1963, drove in Formula 1 for Tyrell, AGS ánd March, the team where Newey began in Formula 1. Capelli and Newey have maintained a friendly relationship ever since, so the Italian is not surprised that Newey is closing the door at Red Bull: "The fire kept going there," Capelli stated in the Gazzetta dello Sport.
"They tried to put it out, but they didn't succeed. In China, after Verstappen's last victory, Christian Horner and Helmut Marko were enthusiastically applauding under the podium. It was all a facade, nothing was resolved between them."
'Newey doesn't want to go to Ferrari'
In any case, Red Bull is going to lose its chief technical officer, although the entire situation is still unclear. After all, Adrian Newey has a contract until the end of 2025. After that, the Brit would have to spend a year on gardening leave before he would be allowed to join another team. Ferrari would love to see him come, that's obvious, but Capelli suspects that Newey does not want to move to Maranello at all.
"As far as I know about him, he is unlikely to come to Italy unless an offer comes along that makes every other one pale in comparison. His life, his work, everything is deeply rooted in England. If he comes, it would only be if he can bring some of his most loyal collaborators with him. But that would cause a revolution that would not bring immediate results," Capelli said.