Italy is buzzing! A day after Red Bull, confirmed Adrian Newey would end his duties with the team as of the first quarter of 2025, with media in Ferrari's homeland reporting he will have a hand in designing the 2026 Formula 1 car for the Scuderia.
This means the sport's greatest team - Ferrari under John Elkann will have lured Formula 1's greatest designer and this era's greatest driver Lewis Hamilton to Maranello to kick start a sensational era for Tifosi.
The Newey news was seen coming for some time, especially in the wake of the Christian Horner 'sexting' scandal' which revealed a sinister rift in the Red Bull camp. But since the news of the parting became official, the Ferrari talk is growing in credence as a $100-million per annum deal was reportedly inked in London yesterday to make it happen.
Italy's influential La Gazzetta dello Sport wrote today: "Newey's future destination will almost certainly be with Ferrari. A meeting was held [Wednesday] in London between
Cavallino team principal Frederic Vasseur and Newey himself.
"The meeting to prepare for the arrival of the English designer at Maranello, after Lewis Hamilton, as John Elkann builds a super-team for the Briton to win an eighth F1 title and to return the title to Maranello which has been missing since 2007."
Red Bull's Pierre Wache is also wanted by Ferrari
Newey is not the only one on the head-hunting list, the report adds: "Furthermore, they also want to poach Pierre Waché from Red Bull. The Frenchman works as a technical director and is also said to have been willing to change. However, his contract apparently does not allow him to leave early.
In contrast, 'gardening leave' is reportedly part of the severance package which 65-year-old Newey will have to serve, perhaps sailing around the globe before what will probably be his final chapter in F1, much like 39-year-old Hamilton.
However, Gazzetta reports that Newey can start working on the 2026 F1 car immediately and that the announcement by Ferrari is expected after the Miami Grand Prix, if not sooner as the 'Cavallino
This means that Ferrari bagged the excellence of Newey to join Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in what has the makings of a 'Super Team' of the kind that took Michael Schumacher to five consecutive F1 titles at the turn of this century.
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