Adrian Newey admits he is contemplating whether to “go again” in Formula One.
Red Bull confirmed earlier this month the 65-year-old Briton, considered to be the mastermind behind the team’s unprecedented dominance of the sport, is set to end his two-decade stay in the “first quarter of 2025”.
Ferrari have been widely reported to be interested in luring Newey to Maranello, where he could work on the car driven by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton who joins the Scuderia next season.
It has also been suggested that Newey may step away from the sport to focus on his other pursuits, including the sailing yacht he has designed.
“I’ve wanted to work in motor racing as a designer since I was the age of eight or 10. I am lucky to have fulfilled that ambition, to have got that first job and been in motor racing ever since,” Newey said in an interview with Eddie Jordan for Oyster Yachts.
“Every day is just a bonus really. I love what I do.
“At some point I guess I will have a bit of a holiday. But as Forrest Gump said at the end of his long run, I feel a little bit tired at the moment but at some point I will probably go again.”
Newey has played a significant role in 13 drivers’ world championships and a dozen constructors’ titles with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull.
“If you’d asked me 15 years ago, at the age of 65 would I be considering changing teams and going somewhere else and doing another four, five years or whatever, I’d have said you are absolutely mad,” Newey added.
“I feel a bit tired at the moment. (But) to walk away from (Red Bull Racing) was a very hard decision.
“The great thing about motor racing, though it can be very painful, is that every two weeks or so – well every week now the way the calendar has gone – is that you know how you are doing.
“That feedback is what vitalises the whole thing. That is what I got used to over the years and I know I would miss that if I wasn’t doing it.
“That brings us back to do I go again or do I enjoy my Oyster Yacht and sail off into the sunset?”
Hamilton said ahead of the Miami Grand Prix that he would relish the opportunity to work with Newey.
Hamilton said: “They (Ferrari) have got a great team and they are making huge progress and their car is quicker this year, but it would be a privilege to work with him.
“If I was to do a list of people I would like to work with then he (Newey) would absolutely be at the top of it.”
Newey’s departure also places further pressure on Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
Newey’s departure came in the wake of Horner being accused of “inappropriate behaviour” by a female employee. He was exonerated by Red Bull’s parent company GmbH on the eve of last month’s curtain raiser in Bahrain and has always denied the claims.
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