With F1’s 12-Time Champion Still Up for Grabs, Ferrari & Charles Leclerc Can Cling On to their Fading Hopes: “Hot Property”

Ferrari, especially Charles Leclerc, has had one of the worst starts to a championship season by a stretch. Despite all the optimism at the start of the season, the Prancing Horse is in a miserable condition at the moment. However, there is a rare opportunity for Ferrari to acquire the expertise of a 12-time champion that can change the fate of the team. In fact, this “hot property” in F1 can even help Leclerc actualize his potential and make him a world championship. Who is this sought-after gentleman? It’s Adrian Newey.

Newey’s contract at Red Bull is set to expire at the end of the current championship season. The British engineer is considered a genius with 12 driver’s and 11 constructors’ championships under his belt. With Red Bull alone, the Britisher has won 6 driver’s and 5 constructors’ championships. Now with the contract expiring, Newey might be looking for a new challenge. This is the opinion of the hosts of the Lift the Lid podcast as they Newey night go help out the struggling Charles Leclerc and Ferrari.

“Adrian Newey is hot property. Could he be on a move somewhere else? The worst thing for Red Bull would be him going somewhere to another team. If he is just thinking about just hanging his hat up and just retiring from F1 in general then that’s a different prospect. But if he goes, ‘Guys maybe I want a different challenge, you know the old Ferrari team needs a bit of help, maybe I can help them or Mercedes’. Can you imagine?” said one of the hosts.

“The prancing horse I can understand. I can imagine that would be his last hurrah,” suggested the other host.

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Despite Red Bull boss Christian Horner squashing all rumors, there is plenty of speculation still going around. What’s more interesting is that Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur is on the lookout for new personnel.

Frederic Vasseur breaking the norm to help out Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz

The Italian team prides itself in sticking to its roots. However, in the past decade, the Italian connection hasn’t worked out for Ferrari and this is exactly why they hired the Frenchman Vasseur. In Ferrari’s 70-plus-year-long history in F1, Vasseur is only the fourth non-Italian team boss. With already a change on the top, the Frenchman is looking to make changes throughout the organization.

In his first act of restructuring, Vasseur sent the chief strategist, Inaki Rueda, back to Maranello and replaced him with Ravin Jain. The French boss will follow these actions by hiring more personnel. According to Leo Turrini, Ferrari is in the market for new engineers and technicians.

Vasseur is also backed by the board for this restructuring. Turrini revealed, “In fact, Fred Vasseur, the head of the racing department, the country curator mentioned above, has obtained the ok of the company leaders: he will be able to look abroad for those professionals that will have to integrate and strengthen Ferrari’s structure.” 

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Will this backing from Ferrari bosses help Vasseur bring Newey to the Maranello? No one can be sure, but this would surely be an exciting twist in the 2024 silly season.