Red Bull F1 tech guru Newey was ‘very tempted’ to join Ferrari 

Newey, who is considered one of the greatest technical minds in F1, admitted he considered joining Ferrari twice in the 1990s, but refused because he and his family were settled in England at the time. 

Ferrari first tried to sign Newey while he was at Williams in 1993, before the Italian outfit made a second unsuccessful approach later in the decade. 

"I've had discussions with Ferrari in the past. I've been very tempted because it's such a legendary brand," Newey told Sky Italy. 

"The time that was most tempting would have been around 1993 and 1997 when I moved from Williams to McLaren.

"That was a very tough choice. At the time, my kids were young and I didn't know how they would settle in an Italian school. If I was to move to a team that was based in Italy, I would have to move to Italy with the family.

"Now at Red Bull, I have been involved with more or less since the start, moving teams is always a huge workload to re-establish yourself and get the working practices, so honestly, if I was 20 years younger, maybe.”

Ferrari also tried to lure Newey with a lucrative offer in 2014, something he admitted in his book, How To Build A Car. 

In it, Newey explained how Ferrari offered him a “film-star lifestyle” and a “ridiculously large” financial incentive - more than double his Red Bull salary at the time. 

There has also been reported interest in Newey’s services from Mercedes. 

Red Bull motorsport advisor Helmut Marko recently revealed that Newey declined an offer from Mercedes before committing his F1 future to the Milton Keynes-based squad.