Huge Adrian Newey boost for Aston Martin as rival team officially ends interest

Adrian Newey.

We now know one team where Adrian Newey will not end up should he return to Formula 1 after his Red Bull departure.

And that team is McLaren, with CEO Zak Brown confirming they will not be striking a deal to bring Newey back to Woking, as Ferrari and Aston Martin speculation continues to intensify.

McLaren explain why they will not sign Adrian Newey

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Newey is set to become a free agent early in 2025 with talk over where he may pop back up on the F1 grid continuing to gather pace, with signs now increasingly pointing towards Aston Martin in a deal worth a reported $100 million.

Alongside Ferrari, McLaren had also been credited as a rival in the bid to secure Newey’s services, but McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has now moved to confirm they will not be re-signing Newey, who previously was at the team from 1997 to 2005, Mika Hakkinen driving the Newey-designed MP4/13 and MP4/14 to the 1998 and 1999 Drivers’ titles respectively. McLaren secured the Drivers’ and Constructors’ title double in ’98.

“We’re not going to sign Adrian,” Brown confirmed to BBC Sport.

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And the reason for McLaren snubbing Newey, despite him having a CV “second to none”, is because Brown “couldn’t be happier” with the personnel which McLaren has in place now as they chase their first Constructors’ title since that 1998 triumph.

McLaren sit P2 in the Constructors’ Championship and are only 42 points behind Red Bull with 10 rounds of the F1 2024 campaign to go.

“I’m very happy with the team,” Brown continued.

“Adrian is a great friend, huge talent, resume [CV] second to none. But with what we have in place here, I couldn’t be happier.

“We can get the job done. I’m happy with the race team we have and we’re going to try to win the World Championship with the team sitting here today.”

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, who leads the Drivers’ Championship by 78 points over McLaren’s Lando Norris, admitted that McLaren has seized the initiative over recent rounds with Red Bull’s continued dominance at the start of F1 2024 evaporating and he urged his team to “fight back” after the summer break.

“I think if you look at the last five, six races, they for sure have been the best. Quite clear,” Verstappen said of McLaren when speaking to media including PlanetF1.com.

“That’s fine. Fair play to them. I think they have done a great job.

“From our side, we have a bit of work to do, a few things also to analyse over the break. From race one all the way to here, what we have done.

“And then try to fight back from Zandvoort, see if we can actually improve the situation, try to turn it around, try to be more competitive.

“I think the battle is in a way still quite tight, so when you make small mistakes it definitely can swing quite quickly.

“We have to try to use that to our advantage as well, because it’s so difficult at the moment, but we’ll see.

“There are so many races left and so many things that can happen.

“You can have the best possible preparation into every single weekend, but even then things can catch you by surprise. So you just have to remain focused, calm and try to improve.”

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