Revealed: Why Ferrari backed away from $100m fight for Adrian Newey

Ferrari reportedly withdrew from the race to hire Adrian Newey to avoid a bidding war after Aston Martin made a more lucrative offer.

PlanetF1.com understands Newey’s move to the Aston Martin will be announced in the build-up to next week’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Aston Martin have reportedly won the race to sign Adrian Newey

While Newey has been heavily linked to Aston Martin in recent months, it was initially Ferrari who were leading the running when the design guru announced in May that he will leave Red Bull in early 2025.

From a visit to Maranello to a private meeting at an airport, Ferrari courted Newey with team boss Fred Vasseur’s “couple of names with five letters” cryptic tease back in July seen as a hint that 25-time championship-winner would be the one to replace the Aston Martin-bound Enrico Cardile, who was formerly Ferrari’s head of their chassis design department.

But six weeks later, it’s Aston Martin who are expected to announce the 65-year-old, and do so in the coming days , after Ferrari withdrew from the negotiations.

While it was suggested that the right to veto the hiring of technical staff played more of a role in that than finances, Motorsport.com claims it was actually about money with Ferrari wanting to avoid a bidding war.

Although Vasseur is said to have secured the budget to sign Newey, after Aston Martin made him an offer that’s believed to be in the region of $100m, they walked away from the table.

More on Adrian Newey’s Red Bull exit

👉 Adrian Newey’s gardening leave explained: How F1 legend will spend his final days at Red Bull

👉 Life after Adrian Newey: Meet the man set to take over Red Bull’s technical programme

Ferrari have instead named former Mercedes man Loic Serra as their new Technical Director, a role he will take up when he joins the team in October after his gardening leave.

“Scuderia Ferrari HP announces that is has entrusted the role of Technical Director Chassis to Loic Serra,” the team announced .

“As previously announced, the French engineer, born in 1972, will join the team on 1 October. Loic in this new role will report directly to the Team Principal, Fred Vasseur.”

Aston Martin, meanwhile, will hold a press conference on September 10 in which they’re expected to announce Newey.

Eddie Jordan, Newey’s manager and long-time friend, declined to comment on the matter, telling the BBC : “I am not prepared to answer – I will not be forthcoming in any shape or form.”

Read next: Fernando Alonso drives first Adrian Newey Aston Martin car as big announcement looms