Adrian Newey to Ferrari collapse ‘bigger than just money’ as F1 pundit claims additional issue

As Ferrari’s talks with Adrian Newey broke down, Marc Priestley believes it wasn’t so much money that reportedly swayed Adrian Newey to Aston Martin but the “freedom” to bring in his own team of engineers.

According to reports, design legend Newey is on his way to Aston Martin with confirmation expected in the coming weeks.

‘Can Adrian Newey be the man to turn that around?’

Leaving Red Bull in the first quarter of next year, the 65-year-old will swap Milton Keynes for Silverstone in a four-year deal that’s worth a cool $100 million .

If the rumours are true, it is the latest salvo from Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll as the Canadian looks to turn Aston Martin into a championship-winning Formula 1 team.

“Lots of talk now that Adrian Newey either has or is about to sign a contract at the Aston Martin team worth an astronomical amount of money, $100 million is the number being bandied around,” Priestley, the former McLaren mechanic turned F1 pundit, said on his YouTube channel .

“They are one of the few teams that can afford that amount of money, one of the few teams that is willing to pay that amount of money and they are a team that is desperate for success.

“Seemingly Lawrence Stroll is willing to do pretty much anything to make that happen. But whether it is a sustainable plan for long-term success, I don’t know. They seem to be throwing money in all sorts of areas trying to make this happen but so far they haven’t been able to generate enough of it on a stable basis.

“Can Adrian Newey be the man to turn that around?”

More on Adrian Newey’s Red Bull exit

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👉 Ranked: The top 10 most successful Adrian Newey Formula 1 car designs

Ferrari were ‘not happy’ with Adrian Newey’s rumoured demands

But as Aston Martin celebrate the signing of F1’s most successful designer with 25 championships won in his cars, Ferrari have once again missed their man.

The Scuderia were the early favourites to sign the design legend but according to AutoSprint, over and above his huge salary he also wanted the right to veto the hiring of new engineers . Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur said no.

Priestley, however, reckons Aston Martin may have given Newey just that, the “freedom, some kind of opportunity that is bigger than just the money.

“Whether it’s bringing in his own team of engineers, that’s another rumour that potentially Ferrari was not happy with.

“If you sign Adrian Newey, you might also need to sign up to 20 other engineers that Adrian wants in his team to make the whole thing work.

“Maybe that doesn’t work for other teams, maybe that feels like a destabilising element. Those are questions that everyone has had to ask.

“But it is looking more and more likely that Aston Martin could be his destination.”

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