Red Bull’s chief technical officer, Adrian Newey, has revealed rejecting offers from Ferrari on three separate occasions.
Despite his successful career with Red Bull, Newey admits he has some emotional regrets about not working with Scuderia.
Additionally, he wishes he had the opportunity to design cars for Formula 1 champions like Fernando Alonso and his rival from Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton.
Newey on F1’s Beyond The Grid Podcast stated: “[Ferrari approached] in my IndyCar days, which probably doesn’t count, then ’93 and famously in 2014. The ’93 one was very tempting.
“I went down, Jean Todt [team boss] had just started. I remember him talking about should he hire Michael [Schumacher] or not. Do you think that was a good idea?”
In 2014, when Ferrari approached him at the beginning of the 1.6-litre turbo hybrid era, Newey was content with his position at Red Bull.
However, it was the attitude of Red Bull’s engine supplier, Renault, that made him contemplate the possibility of leaving the team.
“My discussions in 2014 with Ferrari were purely out of frustration,” Newey continued.
“I really didn’t want to leave but we were in this position where Renault hadn’t produced a competitive turbo hybrid engine.
“That happens in the first year, OK, new rules. We all make mistakes.
“But we went to see Carlos Ghosn [disgraced former Renault CEO], Christian [Horner], Helmut [Marko] and myself to try to put pressure on him to up the budget.
He added: “Ghosn’s reply was ‘Well, I have no interest in Formula 1. I’m only in it because my marketing people say I should be. That was such a depressing place to be.”
Newey admitted that there was an emotional aspect to his decision not to join Ferrari. He also expressed a desire for the chance to collaborate with both Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso.
When questioned about whether he had any regrets regarding his choice to decline Ferrari’s offers, Newey responded: “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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