The future of Adrian Newey remains uncertain. If Flavio Briatore has his way, Newey will be calling the shots at Alpine. “Anything is still possible,” he says.
Initially, there was almost a certain transition of Newey to Ferrari, a move that, according to Fernando Alonso and others, was cancelled at the last minute. Then it was Alonso’s employer, Aston Martin, who seemed to have secured the top designer leaving Red Bull. However, the final announcement of this has not yet been made. The reason could very well be Alpine, which, with new team leadership, has also now entered the fray.
Briatore, as is well known, is one of the new faces of the French racing stable. The Italian made a special comeback in the sport, despite a shady past with punishment for ‘Crashgate’. Briatore is determined to give Alpine a significant sporting role again, just like the new team boss Oliver Oakes, whom he recruited. Securing Newey would be a coup.
What is needed?
What is needed: money and a lot – or even unlimited – technical freedom within the team. “He’s on the market, so we’re talking,” Briatore initially remains cryptic to several media. “Nobody was talking about us at first, nobody was talking about Alpine. But here we are: we have the money, we have support from the top, we have a good group of people. So if an opportunity arises, we will not hesitate to improve the team even more.”
However, bringing in Newey is no guarantee of success, Briatore knows. “One man will not be able to change an entire team. There are plenty of examples that show you can’t buy everything: for example, you can’t buy a culture of winning. There are plenty of people who just buy, buy, buy. But the result of it is not always proportional.”
So, the hunt for Newey continues? “Anything is possible,” concludes the Italian.
