What Fernando Alonso said about Adrian Newey ahead of $200m Aston Martin deal
Adrian Newey has spoken of his desire to work with Fernando Alonso in the past, but it has not happened yet.
Fernando Alonso has said it would be “an honour” to work with Adrian Newey, if a deal with Aston Martin is struck.
PlanetF1.com understands Newey’s next move is set to be announced this week, with Aston Martin now hot favourites for his signature as he gets set to leave Red Bull in the first quarter of 2025.
Fernando Alonso: Working with Adrian Newey would be ‘an honour’
With the two-time World Champion having never worked with the sport’s most successful designer before, Alonso took delivery of his edition of the Newey-designed Aston Martin Valkyrie last week, with that being the closest the two have come to a collaboration thus far.
As the future of the Formula 1 design great has been a hot topic all season, Alonso has spoken favourably about if he would arrive at Aston Martin for his next move.
“Look, if one day Newey finally signs for Aston Martin then it would be an honour for me to work with him because he is the best in history,” Alonso told Spanish broadcaster DAZN.
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“He is a genius in this sport and it would be incredible to work with him. But if the time doesn’t come, then fine, and if the time comes and it only coincides with six months of my career or a year, then good for me.
“And we’ll see and when I have to think about whether I want to continue racing or not, it depends on so many things and the moment we’re in that I don’t know, and I prefer not to think about it.”
The respect between Alonso and Newey is mutual, with the Red Bull chief technology officer having admitted in an interview last year that he had hoped to have worked with the Spanish driver to date.
When asked in an interview with the BBC in 2023 if there was a driver he had not worked with whom he felt he would have enjoyed a partnership with, Newey replied: “In terms of drivers, Fernando is one I have always…”
A reminder then came that a move for Alonso almost materialised at the end of 2013, as Mark Webber was preparing to retire from Formula 1, to which Newey responded: “That’s a regret that that never happened because I have a tremendous respect for Fernando.
“The truth is, first of all, I try to live in the present and the future and not the past. Regrets? No. I just feel tremendously lucky to have had the opportunities I’ve had and to have worked with the people I have done and met the people I have done.”
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