The end of the F1 super-team dream: Lewis Hamilton and Adrian Newey

With Adrian Newey’s move to Aston Martin announced, it categorically rules out any chance of F1’s greatest designer working with the sport’s most successful driver - Lewis Hamilton.

Newey revealed in 2023 on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast that not working for Ferrari - or with Hamilton - would be one of his career regrets.

He said: “Emotionally, I guess, to a point, yes.

“But just as, for instance, working with Fernando [Alonso] and Lewis would have been fabulous. But it never happened. It's just circumstance sometimes, that's the way it is.”

Newey’s decision to join Aston Martin in 2025 has deprived F1 fans of the formation of this "super-team" - with Newey, Hamilton, and Ferrari.

It would have been a tantalising prospect, given Newey and Hamilton’s respective track records, and a final swansong before both parties call time on their careers.

Hamilton is the sport’s most successful driver, with seven F1 world titles and 105 victories. 

Newey-designed cars have won an astonishing 12 constructors’ titles and 13 drivers’ titles - an unrivalled CV for a designer in F1.

Why did Hamilton and Newey never join forces?

Despite competing in the same era, a Hamilton-Newey alliance hasn’t been on the cards until Hamilton’s surprise move to Ferrari for next year.

Hamilton’s arrival at McLaren was just two years after Newey’s departure, who took the surprise decision to join Red Bull.

The start of Hamilton’s dominant era in 2014 prompted Newey to potentially look elsewhere, with former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo attempting to sign the Red Bull designer.

Newey had grown increasingly frustrated by the glass ceiling put on Red Bull by the Renault underperforming power unit, conceding he got “quite depressed” about the situation.

Mercedes also made an approach for Newey in 2014, but he stayed loyal, citing the “paternal bond” he had with Red Bull in taking them from midfield outfit to title winner.

Newey told the BBC in 2017: “And with our particular engine supplier we seemed a bit doomed. I got quite depressed about that. Ferrari approached as did another team, Mercedes, as well. And it’s kind of make your mind up time.

“But I guess Red Bull, having built it up from nothing, I felt a paternal bond to the team, to the people that worked there. I enjoyed a very close and strong relationship with Christian Horner. So it kind of felt like walking out on a family.”

Newey’s interest in F1 ebbed and flowed before Red Bull’s revival when they partnered with Honda in 2019, eventually defeating Hamilton to the title in 2021 with Max Verstappen.

Why not Ferrari in 2025?

Murmurings of Red Bull imploding in the first part of the 2024 F1 campaign amid the Christian Horner saga (for alleged inappropriate behaviour) led to widespread suggestions that Newey could leave the team, while Verstappen’s future was also in doubt.

By the Miami Grand Prix, Red Bull officially announced Newey’s departure, revealing he would be free to join a rival F1 team in the first quarter of 2025.

Ferrari were immediately linked to Newey, with some reports claiming they were prepared to pay him £100m over four years.

Speaking after the news was announced, Hamilton admitted Newey would be at the top of the list of people he’d want to work with in F1.

“If I was to do a list of people I would love to work with, he would absolutely be at the top of it,” Hamilton said.

“Any team would be fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him.”

Newey responded two months later: “It's very kind of Lewis to say that. I'm very flattered. At the moment, it's just take a bit of a break and see what happens next.”

As time passed, Aston Martin’s intense pursuit of Newey was clear.

He was reportedly given a tour of the Aston Martin HQ by billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll.

According to Motorsport.com, Ferrari wanted to avoid a bidding war with Aston Martin over Newey, ruling out a possible alliance of three of F1’s greatest forces.

For Aston Martin, it leaves them in an exciting position moving forward with their heavy investment resulting in the acquisition of F1’s greatest mind.

For Ferrari, while this might have been a serious blow 12 months ago, under Frederic Vasseur’s leadership, the Scuderia is on the rise again, and the signing of Loic Serra is a shrewd move.

Plus, McLaren have shown this year that you don’t necessarily need Adrian Newey to have the quickest car in F1.

The future of F1

The combination of Hamilton, Newey and Ferrari, would have been a mouth-watering prospect for F1.

While it’s a shame we won’t see that happen, the sport may ultimately benefit from a competitive standpoint, as the greatest driver won’t be partnered with the greatest designer at the greatest team.

Hamilton remains adamant that Newey never builds “bad cars” - which is great news for Aston Martin.

The current Mercedes driver said in 2022: “Adrian Newey doesn’t generally build bad cars.

“My first McLaren championship car [in 2007] was an evolution of his car. He did a thesis on ground-effect cars. It’s no surprise, he’s one of the only ones who draws these cars by hand.

“They’ve done a fantastic job and anything I’ve said in the past about the team, I didn’t mean it in a negative way. I think years ago I said something about them being a drinks company and I was just really highlighting that you would bet more on a car company, but they’ve proved me wrong and everyone else.

“But also knowing that Adrian did his thesis on ground effect cars when he was at university – it’s no surprise what he has done and created this year.”

The Hamilton-Newey partnership could have materialised, and while it hasn’t happened this time, it’s incredibly likely they will continue to be rivals in the coming years as they add to their respective F1 legacies.