Lewis Hamilton dealt blow as legendary designer Adrian Newey chooses ‘toughest’ rival over joining him at Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton’s wish of teaming up with Formula 1’s most successful engineer of all-time at Ferrari is now over.

Adrian Newey, the genius car designer who has masterminded 12 Constructors’ World Championships and 13 Drivers’ World Championships, will be joining Aston Martin for the 2025 season.

Newey will work with Alonso, not Hamilton, from 2025 onwards

The legend of the sport has worked previously at Williams and McLaren, and since 2006 with Red Bull, but announced his departure in May.

The news will come as a blow to seven-time champion Hamilton, who publicly tried to tempt Newey with him to Ferrari at the first opportunity in a press conference the day after the split was announced.

The Brit said his compatriot was ‘top of his wish list’ to work with, and that it would be a ‘privilege’ for the sport’s most successful driver and car designer to unite.

Newey called the comments ‘flattering’ and had earlier said his biggest career regret was not having worked with either Hamilton or former rival Fernando Alonso.

He will now fulfil one of those dreams by joining Alonso at Aston Martin next year. The 43-year-old two-time world champion recently signed a new contract with the Silverstone-based squad into 2026 when new sporting regulations will come into effect.

That link-up could also cause concern for Hamilton, who has previously called Alonso the ‘toughest’ opponent he’s raced against.

Despite a revival last season, Aston Martin have dropped considerably off the pace in 2024, well short of the top four teams – Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes.

However, taking teams to the top is nothing new for Newey, who is credited with lifting Red Bull from the back of the grid to four championships with Sebastian Vettel and three more with Max Verstappen.

The partnership looked set to continue beyond the 18-year mark, with Newey given other projects by the team’s leadership such as the Aston Martin Valkyrie and RB17 production road cars.

However, the Milton Keynes squad were rocked by allegations of inappropriate behaviour against CEO and team principal Christian Horner in February, something the BBC insists influenced Newey’s departure.

2Horner has lost arguably his biggest asset, perhaps even more so than VerstappenCredit: Getty

Horner strongly denies any wrongdoing and has been cleared by an internal investigation, but Newey’s departure is arguably already being felt.

Off the back of the most dominant season in F1 history in 2023, Red Bull began the campaign with Verstappen winning the opener by an ominous 22 seconds.

Now, though, with Newey’s roles in the team being reduced ahead of his departure, Red Bull are on the brink of losing their Constructors’ Championship lead to McLaren, and many in the paddock claim the two things are linked.

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Hamilton, meanwhile, will be hoping Ferrari can perfect their design with other inspirations in 2025 after he announced his bombshell move from Mercedes back in February.

Newey was inevitably linked with a move to join him in Italy after Mercedes and McLaren announced themselves out of the running.

“Maybe the reason [behind his decision] will be because he doesn’t want to go to Italy or he’s got an offer from Aston Martin that he cannot refuse, sometimes those offers come along,” he said in July.

“I don’t know if he has made his mind up, because it’s really nice if everyone wants you, you don’t have to be in a rush to make a decision. So I don’t really know where he’s going.

“But I think him going to Ferrari is very unlikely at the moment. They are building up a team with people already, so they have a plan in place and maybe there were promises made to people and Adrian wouldn’t fit.

“I’m not saying definitely he’s not going, I just don’t think he’s going there.”