CHARLES LECLERC ALL IN ON FERRARI CHASING ‘AMAZING’ ADRIAN NEWEY SIGNATURE

Adrian Newey has been linked with a switch to Ferrari as his Red Bull tenure ticks towards its end, a signing which Charles Leclerc is encouraging his team to make happen.

On the eve of the Miami Grand Prix, the bombshell announcement was made that Newey’s involvement with the Red Bull Formula 1 team is over, as he prepares to exit the Milton Keynes-based squad entirely “after the first quarter of 2025”. His focus until then will be the RB17 hypercar project.

Charles Leclerc feels Adrian Newey ‘can make a difference’ at Ferrari

Whether Newey will continue his Formula 1 career – which has seen him become one of the greatest designers in history – remains to be seen, but should he take on another F1 challenge, then Ferrari has been speculated as a prime destination.

Ferrari has tried to secure Newey’s signature several times in the past and as the team bid to reel in the dominant Red Bull outfit, Leclerc believes Newey would give their cause a huge boost.

“I would obviously be very happy,” said Leclerc on the idea of Newey joining Ferrari.

“I think Adrian is one of those guys in the paddock that you hope to be working with one day in your career.

“We have an incredible team in Ferrari at the moment and in the last seven to eight months, we are the team that have progressed the most, however, adding Adrian to a team like this would be amazing.

“I think we’re in a very good moment for the team and we are in a good spiral.

“Fred [Vasseur, team principal] has always shared with me his medium to the long-term vision of the team. I have shared with him what I thought also was the right thing and it’s going really well.

“I’m really happy with how it goes and I think we are in a good place to attract the best people in the world.

“However, I have said it already but we are a really good team already and in the last seven to eight months we’ve done incredible progress.

“But whatever and whoever can come to make it even stronger is super important, and Adrian is one of those guys that can make a difference.”

PlanetF1.com recommends

Follow PlanetF1.com’s WhatsApp and Facebook channels for all the F1 breaking news!

F1 live stream: Watch the Miami Grand Prix with F1 TV Pro!

Newey has been hailed as an integral figure behind Red Bull’s dominance of F1’s ground effect era, though following the news of his concluding of F1 duties and impending exit, Red Bull driver Sergio Perez attempted to play down the idea that Red Bull could struggle to maintain this form without him.

And while Leclerc is not in a position to comment on how Newey’s departure will impact Red Bull, he returned to the idea that Newey has proven himself to be a difference maker.

“Will it weaken Red Bull? I mean obviously every team, there are lots of people involved but some figures of a team make more difference than others and I think Adrian is definitely one of them as he has shown it with his path that every time he’s been in a team, they’ve been very successful,” said Leclerc.

“So yeah, it’s difficult for me to comment because I don’t know exactly how it works within the team, but obviously Adrian being on the market of the engineers is definitely someone to watch and someone that everybody in the paddock will want in their team.”

Leclerc’s Ferrari team-mate Carlos Sainz similarly said it is impossible to assess how hard Newey leaving will hit Red Bull, but assumes he was a “very important” figure behind their record-breaking success.

“I don’t know,” said Sainz when asked if Newey leaving will weaken Red Bull? “I don’t know how important he was at Red Bull. I’m not part of that team so I don’t know how fundamental he was.

“But I can guess that as Red Bull has been winning for so many years he was a very important part of that project. How much? It’s impossible for me to tell without being on the inside. But it’s no secret that he’s one of the most valued engineers in the whole paddock.”

Sainz is on the lookout for a new home on the F1 grid for 2025, with Lewis Hamilton set to take his place at Ferrari.

So, with his future not yet decided, Sainz again did not offer much insight when asked if a more level playing field could develop with Newey out of the Red Bull F1 picture?

“Well, it doesn’t effect me right now in my situation and my person,” Sainz responded. “That’s why I cannot comment too much on it.

“I don’t know where he’s going, I don’t know what his plans are. So, let’s see.”

Newey-designed F1 cars have collected a staggering 25 titles over the course of his illustrious career.

Read next: Helmut Marko not holding back as he shares his thoughts on Adrian Newey’s Red Bull exit

2024-05-03T18:27:43Z dg43tfdfdgfd