Flavio Briatore Confirms Alpine's Adrian Newey Prospects Amid Ongoing Rumors

Saajan Jogia | Aug 27, 2024

Adrian Newey / Red Bull Content Pool

Renault executive advisor Flavio Briatore has not ruled out talks with Red Bull's chief technical officer Adrian Newey for a move to Alpine, suggesting that the team has all "the finance and the support" to have him onboard. BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson supported the report in a statement, confirming that Briatore held discussions with the aerodynamic expert for a future move.

Since Newey announced his departure from Red Bull in May, slated for mid-2025, he has been linked to talks with Ferrari, McLaren, and Aston Martin. While the Ferrari and McLaren rumors quickly faded, Aston Martin emerged as the most likely option, given Newey's preference to remain in England and his recent visit to the team's Silverstone facility.

Now though, it has been reported that the aero guru, responsible for Red Bull's dominance in the ground effect era since 2022, is in talks with Briatore and the Williams F1 team, as he continues to explore options for the future. Answering a question about the team Newey is most likely to join, Benson stated on BBC.com:

"This is one of the most interesting topics in F1 - and one of the most uncertain.

"When Newey announced he was leaving Red Bull, a number of teams seemed to be in the running to sign him. But these have gradually fallen by the wayside.

"First, it became clear that Ferrari was not going to happen. Then McLaren Racing chief executive officer Zak Brown said they were not going to take him.

"Aston Martin have made him an offer, which Newey is evaluating. Williams, where Newey achieved his first successes in F1 from 1991-96, have expressed their interest. And Alpine have now entered the race."

Strengthening the prospects of his Alpine joining, Benson added:

"Newey is said to have had pretty extensive talks with Alpine executive adviser Flavio Briatore.

"The 65-year-old is still believed to be evaluating his options."

Renault CEO Luca de Meo hired Briatore in June to turn around the situation at Alpine, which was undergoing a critical phase with unstable management. The first thing Briatore did after his joining in recent weeks was to hire Hitech GP's director Oliver Oakes as Alpine's team principal, with ex-boss Bruno Famin having moved to another department at Renault.

Intending to elevate Alpine to the podium by 2027, Briatore's plans include major transformations, and Newey seems to be a part of it. In his first interview after re-joining Alpine, the 74-year-old advisor was asked if he wanted Newey to join hands with Alpine. He told the media:

“Who is that?! He’s too cheap for me [he said jokingly].

“As well, you are in the market, you are in the business, you are talking people.

“Alpine was a little bit in the corner, nobody was talking about Alpine anymore, you know what I mean? Now we are there, we have the finance, we have the support from the chairman, we have a big group behind us and should something happen that’s a good possibility we do it, as simple as that. But only if it’s good for the team.

“And then it’s not an ego trip, I take this engineer, I take this engineer, because one man is not changing the team; we have plenty of examples like that when people buy everything.

“You don’t buy the culture; the culture to win you don’t buy, you buy whatever you want. We have plenty of people who buy, buy, buy but the result is not really in proportion with what you buy.”

When Briatore was asked for further clarification, if the Newey onboarding was not possible, he added:

“Everything’s possible in life.”

However, with Williams reportedly in the mix to secure Newey's services, only an official announcement from him can end the speculation.