MIAMI — Williams has thrown it is hat into the ring as a left-field contender for Adrian Newey’s providers.
F1 design legend Newey will go away Purple Bull in early 2025, it was confirmed on Wednesday.
A link-up with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari seems to be the favoured transfer, though ESPN sources have confirmed Aston Martin has additionally made a suggestion.
Newey oversaw the dominant Williams automobiles of the early to mid Nineties, profitable the primary F1 championships of his storied profession, and present group boss James Vowles stated he is eager about bringing him again.
– Unlapped: Hearken to ESPN’s F1 podcast
“He’s an icon of our sport. There isn’t a doubt about it,” Vowles advised Autosport. “Each group he is been to since Williams has been championship materials. And that is not a coincidence, that’s simply merely the impact he has on the game.
“It might be remiss of me to not be speaking to him. It is so simple as that.”
At Williams, Newey-built automobiles received with Nigel Mansell in 1992 and Damon Hill in 1996. Newey then moved to McLaren, the place his automobiles received titles in 1998 and 1999.
His transfer to Purple Bull in 2006 helped flip the small Austrian group into one among F1’s main groups, with 4 titles at the beginning of the 2010s and a handful of championships during the last three years.
Whereas Purple Bull has risen up the order over the previous decade and a half, in the identical time Williams has slipped to the again finish of the sector and is a shadow of its former self. Vowles needs to show the British squad right into a aggressive outfit once more and stated the success of that won’t simply relaxation on whether or not it may possibly signal Newey.
“I believe we as Williams have an enormous quantity of labor to do,” he stated. “Adrian or not, our process is gigantic — and Adrian would not make it simpler, however that is the entire level.
“I believe we additionally should be wise about it. Our conversations with him have been very gentle. Besides, are we in discussions? Sure. Very gentle discussions. “However to reply your query, would it not be a dream group? Sure.”