'Would love to': Lewis Hamilton hints at working with rival Max Verstappen's close aide

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton has opened up on working with rival Max Verstappen's close aide and renowned F1 car design guru, Adrian Newey, after the latter announced he was leaving Red Bull. Hamilton said he would 'love' to work alongside Newey as the British driver moves to Ferrari next year.

Newey departed Red Bull after a successful 20-year partnership where the team won as many as 12 F1 Constructors' and 13 Drivers' Championships.

“If I was to do a list of people I would love to work with, he would absolutely be at the top of it. Adrian has such a great history, track record he has done an amazing job through his career, engaging with teams, the knowledge that he has. It would be a privilege to work with him," said Hamilton on the sidelines of Miami Grand Prix," he said.

Ever since Hamilton announced his decision to leave Mercedes at the end of the season, there have been rumors that Ferrari was on the prowl to secure services of Newey, especially in the backdrop of new regulations kicking in from the 2026 season.

“Racing against a team that he has been so heavily part of over the years has been a massive challenge,” he said. “But we need to remember there are a lot of people in the background. There is not one key person, it’s a whole team of people that do the job."

“I don’t anticipate Red Bull not continuing to build great cars moving forward but any team would be fortunate to have the opportunity to work with him."

Since the start of the new F1 season, there had been speculations that Newey was considering leaving Red Bull after accusations of inappropriate behaviour surfaced against team principal Christian Horner. 

Although Newey did not cite any particular reason for his departure in the parting statement, experts are of the view that Red Bull's hierarchy and its support of Horner contributed to his exit. 

"For almost two decades it has been my great honour to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing's progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning Team. However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself," said Newey.

Meanwhile, Horner, after the major announcement paid flowing tribute to Newey, saying all of Red Bull's "greatest moments from the past 20 years" had come due to the British engineer's technical brilliance.