F1 | Red Bull, the Valkyrie project blocked Newey's move to Ferrari

Adrian Newey in Ferrari? In the past there was a real possibility that the English designer, who has made the fortune of numerous teams and who continues to do so in Red Bull, landed in Maranello. A transfer to red only came close for Newey who then remained at the court of the Milton Keynes team. What decreed its permanence in England was the project which saw Red Bull and Aston Martin as protagonists for the creation of the Valkyrie road car.

To remember what happened was Chris horner, with the Red Bull team principal bringing this particular episode to mind. Newey's farewell could have occurred at the beginning of the hybrid era when the Anglo-Austrian team, dominant on the track in previous seasons, had lost competitiveness with the introduction of the new technical regulations. Difficulties that had led Sebastian Vettel to end his professional relationship with Milton Keynes and settle at Ferrari, where Newey could also have landed.

F1 | Newey: one regret not having had the Ferrari experience

“From winning four world championships we then went through a regulation change, missing the target with regards to our engine – declared Horner, interviewed on the podcast Eff Won with DRS – Vettel left and Newey was also very close to leave, half an hour later he was signing for Ferrari."

Horner then added: “They promised him the world, he could have a Hollywood lifestyle, fly to the factory from Munich every day and not pay any taxes, design a road car and much more. But I managed to convince him and make him stay: 'We'll build a road car, if you want to do it we'll do it'. He said to me: 'And how?'. I told him I had no idea but that we would find a way."

The Red Bull team principal, completing his recollection, said: “I went to the then Aston Martin CEO Andy Palmer and told him: 'We have the best designer, you two great brands. We won't finance the car, but I think it makes sense to combine these two things. We talked about it in a pub in England."