F1 Guru Adrian Newey leave Redbull

[Nitrodaze]

Let's recap for a minute on Adrian Newey's achievements. He has won F1 championships with three teams, namely Williams, McLaren, and Redbull. Cumulating into 13 Constructors and/or drivers titles. Listed below are all the drivers and Newey cars that have won F1 titles:-

1992 Williams FW14 - Nigel Mansell
1993 Williams FW15C - Alain Prost
1996 Williams FW18 - Damon Hill
1997 Williams FW19 - Jacque Villeneuve
1998 - 1999 Mclaren MP4/13 - Mika Hakkinen
2010 - 2013 Redbull RB6/7/8/9 - Sebastian Vettel
2021 - 2023 Redbull RB17/18/19 - Max Verstappen
[The 2021 title remains questionable of course]

He is supremely the most successful car designer in F1 history. And that is saying something.

I think the real battleground for Newey's service would be between Ferrari, Mercedes, and Audi. Mercedes would be pressed to prevent such a talent from going anywhere else other than Mercedes. Unfortunately, they currently do not have the sort of driver that would appeal to Newey since they lost Hamilton to Ferrari. The same goes for Audi at this stage.

Ferrari seems the very obvious destination, as they have the iconic status and they have Seven Times World champion Lewis Hamilton in their car. And they have been the only team to win a race in this Redbull-dominated era. That said, the British connection of Aston Martin for whom he designed a road car recently may also be a possibility. Especially with Alonso in their car.

If you were Newey at 65 and close to retirement, would you not want to end this illustrious journey with another World Championship win with a fourth team? Hence, it would come down to the team with the right facilities and resources. With an obvious chance of winning. With a car with a design on the right trajectory. More importantly, with a driver or pair of drivers capable of winning the driver's and constructors' championship.

Ferrari ticks all of those boxes. Then again so do Aston Martin and Mclaren for that matter. A move of Verstappen to Mercedes may just supersede all of the above. But Mercedes does not have the car to entice Verstappen from a highly successful Redbull. It would take Mercedes landing an Adrian Newey deal for Verstappen to be enticed. As it is the other way around. Hence Mercedes would need to grab them both together to be able to prevent Ferrari from grabbing Newey.

This one would be entertaining to watch over the next few weeks.