Working with Newey at Ferrari would be ‘a privilege’ - Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton says it would be “a privilege” to work with Adrian Newey at Ferrari in 2025, following the news that the legendary designer will leave Red Bull.

Newey’s contract with Red Bull was due to expire at the end of next year but he has negotiated an earlier exit that will see him leave in the first quarter of 2025, following 19 years at the team. The chief technical officer becomes a free agent and has not announced his next move yet, and Hamilton says he would “very much” like for Newey to follow him to Ferrari.

“Adrian’s got such a great history, track record, and he’s obviously just done an amazing job throughout his career in engaging with teams and the knowledge that he has,” Hamilton said. “I think he would be an amazing addition.

“I think [Ferrari] have already got a great team, they’re already making huge progress and strides forward -- their car is quicker this year -- but yeah. it would be a privilege to work with him.

“If I was to do a list of people I would like to work with, he would absolutely be at the top of it.”

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While Hamilton insists he doesn’t know what the chances are of him working with Newey in the future, he says he has felt part of his influence in his early career. He doesn’t believe Newey's departure will overly weaken Red Bull, however.

“Just from my perspective, when I joined McLaren I think it was an evolution of his car. I think I got there just after he left," Hamilton said. "That car had evolved from a concept that he had worked on. So I felt privileged that I had the chance to touch something he worked on.

“Racing against a team he’s been so heavily a part of for the years has been a massive challenge. But I think we always need to remember there’s a lot of people in the background. There is not one key person that... it’s not one person, it’s a whole team of people who do the job.

“So you can imagine, of all the amazing experience that he brings to the team, the people that he works with will continue to do an amazing job and I don’t anticipate Red Bull not continuing to build great cars moving forwards. But any team would be fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him.”