The legendary engineer’s departure from Red Bull was confirmed ahead of the Miami GP and with Newey able to work with another team from the first quarter of 2025, the race for his signature is already and intense one.
Among the frontrunners are Ferrari, who have been targeting the 65-year-old for multiple decades. Hamilton, who is joining the Scuderia at the end of the current campaign, was excited about the possibility of working with Newey upon his arrival.
“If I was to do a list of people I would love to work with, he would absolutely be at the top of it,” Hamilton said on Thursday. “Any team would be fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him.”
When asked about Hamilton’s comments by Brundle ahead of sprint qualifying on Friday, Newey let out an appreciative chuckle before noting: “Honestly, I mean it’s very kind of Lewis to say that.
“I’m very flattered. But at the moment it’s just [time to] take a little bit of a break and see what happens next.”
If he does want to remain in F1 after a short hiatus then he won’t be short of options. Both Ferrari and Williams are known to be in talks with the aerodynamics guru, and Aston Martin are also interested in his services.
Assessing Newey’s options, Jenson Button told Sky Sports F1: “It’s a tricky one. I think he’s going to stay UK-based. It’s a big deal to move to Italy, isn’t it? So… maybe Mercedes…”
However, fellow pundits Danica Patrick and Martin Brundle leaned towards Ferrari as his most likely landing spot. Prompted for her opinion, Patrick said: “I think he’ll go to Ferrari… or maybe he’ll just sail for the rest of his life. Who knows?”
Brundle agreed, adding: “There are four teams that have got the resources to make use of his talents: Aston Martin, McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari. I would say Ferrari’s where he’ll end up, helping them out.”
