Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey has been linked to several teams over the years, with Mercedes being the most recent.
With Newey having designed so many title-winning cars throughout his career, it’s easy to see why the likes of Mercedes and Ferrari have previously tried to poach him; however, ever since he made the move from McLaren to Red Bull in 2006, he’s remained loyal to the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
He’s only recently signed a new long-term contract with the Austrians, meaning that there is a very good chance that Newey will retire at Red Bull, presumably after his cars have claimed several more titles.
Red Bull already boast a 122-point lead in the Constructors’ Championship whilst Max Verstappen leads the Drivers’ Championship by 14 points, putting Newey in a great position to have another two titles added to his record at the end of 2023.
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Newey’s career could’ve turned out so differently, though, had he accepted previous approaches, most notably from Ferrari.
According to Ferrari vice chairman Piero Ferrari, Newey rejected offers from former Ferrari boss Jean Todt and former Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo, due to him being incredibly happy living in England.
“He said no to Montezemolo and to Jean Todt,” Piero said.
“Apparently he doesn’t want to move – he likes to stay in England.
“And apart from that, his undisputed skills aside, he doesn’t do it alone. He has very good people around him.”
If Newey had accepted either offer, then it would’ve seen him work for the Italians in the early 2000s, when seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher was at the peak of his reign.
Many have compared Verstappen’s current superiority to that of Schumacher’s whilst he was at Ferrari.
Like the legendary German, Verstappen does have the best car on the grid, with nobody currently being able to challenge the leading side.
Piero spoke very highly about Red Bull and how they’ve been “strong” in different eras of the sport, showing how capable they are at building “very good” cars.
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“They are very good at building cars that are strong and go well on all circuits,” said Piero.
“It’s not just now that they are strong.
“Today, Red Bull wins with hybrid engines, but previously the team won with naturally-aspirated engines. [Sebastian] Vettel won four World Championships with them and that was certainly no coincidence.”