The Formula 1 tug-of-war for Adrian Newey extends to Ferrari.
Piero Ferrari, vice chairman of the Italian company, and son of founder Enzo Ferrari, has made no secret of the team’s approach for Newey.
“He said no to (Luca di) Montezemolo and to Jean Todt,” he said.
“Apparently he doesn’t want to move – he likes to stay in England.
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“And apart from that, his undisputed skills aside, he doesn’t do it alone. He has very good people around him.” Ferrari stated.
Mercedes have also made attempts to lure Newey
But Piero Ferrari wasn’t the only man hoping to secure the signature of Red Bull’s Newey.
Recent reports have claimed that Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff initiated contact with the in-demand engineer, as Newey received a phone call from “one of Toto Wolff’s personal assistants.”
Adrian Newey’s influence on the success of a Formula 1 car is colossal.
Most notable was his time at Williams between 1991 and 1997, which ended with 59 victories and 78 pole positions.
Now that Newey appears tied up with Red Bull for the foreseeable future, Red Bull dominance may become normality.
Mercedes and Ferrari once again find themselves struggling to compete for the championship and Piero Ferrari has given his honest verdict.
“We just have to make do with the equipment we have at the moment. The problem is that with the current budget limits, you have to decide how much to invest to improve the current situation without jeopardising the work for the 2024 car,” he said.
“We have to be patient,” Ferrari cautioned.
With regards to team boss Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari claimed:
“We have to give him time to get things under control. He is someone who knows racing well, he has been in this environment for years, so he deserves the trust.
“We need people with different experiences.
“When we look at history, when we really made changes to the organisation and moved staff away from other teams, the results were very visible.
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“We are good at certain things, but for other things, we need specialists from outside.”
It will be interesting to see how the season unfolds and whether the perceived stunted progression at Mercedes and Ferrari will influence an exit for Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.
Both drivers have been linked with a switch, however, with Red Bull looking unlikely to change a winning formula, the question of Aston Martin tempting the drivers away arises.