Veto request hampers Adrian Newey’s arrival at Ferrari

Adrian Newey will leave Red Bull at the beginning of 2025. The announcement took the Formula 1 paddock by surprise, and many teams are now doing their utmost to recruit him. This is particularly true of Ferrari, but his arrival is proving complicated by differences of opinion between the two parties.

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This is probably the most anticipated transfer in Formula 1 in recent times since Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was confirmed. After his departure from Red Bull was officially announced, every team is now trying to attract the services of Adrian Newey. Among them, Ferrari seemed to have the advantage, a chance ultimately lost.

The Newey-Ferrari relationship that is cooling off day by day.

At the beginning of May, the leading designer in Formula 1 made a shocking announcement: he will leave Red Bull at the end of his contract, which ends in the first quarter of 2025. From then on, many rumors linking him to Ferrari have directly emerged. FormulaPassion.it, an Italian website often very well informed when it comes to the team, had even indicated that the relationships were at an advanced stage. A role as a technical supervisor or super consultant was even awaiting the British engineer.

Other sources like the Daily Mail have mentioned a visit by Adrian Newey’s wife, Amanda Smerczak, to Maranello to buy a property in the area. Conversations between the former technical director and Ferrari members were even filmed, fueling rumors of a move to the Italian team. However, in recent weeks, the trend has reversed. Negotiations seem to have reached a standstill, as Ferrari cannot meet all the demands of the former McLaren engineer.

A structural problem more than a financial one

Initially, rumors suggested that the main obstacle to Newey’s arrival at Ferrari was financial, with a salary demand of over $20 million per year. The amount would have displeased Benedetto Vigna, the director of Ferrari. However, Autosprint revealed that the real problem was not money, but issues related to decision-making power within the team. « But then he asked for decision-making powers that are the prerogative of the team director, and Vasseur said no. » was reported.

The 65-year-old engineer expressed his desire to have, within the Italian team, a veto right over the hiring of new engineers, the allocation of roles, and the acceptance of technical partnerships, a wish to which Ferrari and Frédéric Vasseur have refused to submit. They believe that this would affect the stability within the team. Does he fit into the team? And what does he bring to the team for the future? It is not a certainty of success. Sometimes one plus one does not make two, but two and a half. Newey is certainly a problem in terms of integration into a team, just as he is a problem for everyone. Fred Vasseur had declared in Hungary.

« I always push to explain that individuals are less important than the group, and that’s true when you recruit someone, and that’s true when you lose someone. The stability of the group [is important], and that the other people work very well together, he added.

Adrian Newey should not therefore unpack his bags on Italian soil, as he seems to be increasingly heading towards Aston Martin. This situation puts Ferrari in a delicate position, especially as they recently lost Enrico Cardile, the technical director of the chassis department, who also left for the competitor.

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