Sir Lewis Hamilton admits he would have been ‘honoured’ to work with Adrian Newey but is not disappointed that Ferrari missed out on signing the F1 legend.
Earlier this week it was confirmed that Newey had signed for Aston Martin on a five-year contract worth upwards of £100million.
Regarded as the greatest car designer in the sport’s history, his machines have helped Williams, McLaren and Red Bull win 13 drivers’ championships and 12 constructors’ championships.
When it was announced that he would be leaving Red Bull earlier this year, there was naturally a great clamour for his signature with Hamilton hopeful the 65-year-old would join Ferrari.
The seven-time champion is moving to the Scuderia from Mercedes in 2025 and after Newey previously said that he would like to work with the legendary driver and team, it seemed like a match made in heaven.
But Ferrari couldn’t match Aston Martin’s bid, with Newey set to link up with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll instead.
Ahead of this weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Hamilton was asked whether he was ‘disappointed’ by this outcome and replied: ‘Honestly, no.
‘I feel like, while I’ve mentioned before that it would be an honour to work with Adrian, I have been privileged to work with two championship-winning teams that didn’t have Adrian.
‘I think any team probably would have been happy to have had him. But at the end of the day he had to do what was best for him.
‘It doesn’t change anything for me. It doesn’t change my goal, or my focus with the next move. So I still believe 100 per cent that there’s lots we can do there.’
Meanwhile, Red Bull star Max Verstappen will no longer have the honour of driving a Newey car, but the three-time champion wishes nothing but the best for his former colleague.
‘I’m not surprised, because I knew it was coming,’ the Dutchman said.
‘I’m happy for Adrian, I quickly spoke to him, but it’s just different challenges, right? When you’ve been with the team for a long time, I can also see that maybe for him, [it’s] a new challenge.
‘For sure, I know that Lawrence [Stroll, Aston Martin owner] is pushing flat out to make it a success and of course I hope for them that it can be a success.’
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