Newey to Ferrari rumours dismissed again amid fresh Hamilton talk

Sky F1 pit-lane reporter Ted Kravitz has dismissed speculation that Adrian Newey could be tempted to join Ferrari following Lewis Hamilton's shock move to the Italian outfit for 2024.

Kravitz firmly rejected any notion that Hamilton's presence at Maranello would influence Newey's decision.

"No, I don’t think who’s driving the Ferrari is the motivating factor for Newey," Kravitz stated in response to a fan question about Newey potentially linking up with Hamilton at Ferrari.

"He’s had many opportunities to join Ferrari in the past. Nothing’s impossible, he might join them in the future, but I don’t think it’s got anything to do with which driver is in the car."

Instead, Kravitz believes factors such as location, communication, and creative freedom hold far greater sway over the 65-year-old design genius.

"I think it’s more factors like, where he lives, communication with the team, and potential freedoms for him to do his work are more important to Adrian than designing a car for Lewis or Max [Verstappen], or whoever," he explained.

Ferrari has long coveted Newey, widely considered the foremost design talent in F1 history thanks to his success with Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull. However, they have failed in countless past attempts to convince the notoriously private Briton to relocate to Maranello.

According to Kravitz, Newey has rejected Ferrari "plenty of times" already despite their relentless pursuit.

With Red Bull's Milton Keynes base just an hour from Newey's home, Kravitz sees little indication he would uproot at this late stage of his glittering career.

The Sky reporter also addressed speculation around Hamilton's access to sensitive technical meetings at Mercedes following confirmation of his move to Ferrari.

However, Kravitz anticipates a few issues on that front.

"He’ll be in all the meetings he needs to be to progress this year’s car. But he wouldn’t expect to be in a planning meeting for 2025, so he won’t be," Kravitz commented.

"I don’t think there’ll be many times when they’re in an engineering briefing at a racetrack and they stop and say, 'Right at this point, Lewis, you can leave the room.'"

With both parties firmly focused on extracting maximum performance before Hamilton's departure, Kravitz expects a professional working relationship built on mutual respect right up to the Abu Dhabi finale.