Newey’s Williams talks now on ’pause’ - Vowles

Formula 1 is waiting with bated breath to discover Adrian Newey’s next move.

The 65-year-old, arguably the most famous and sought-after technical mind and car designer in F1 history, has now stepped back at Red Bull and is vowing to take a break as he’s "tired".

But he said in a new interview with his manager and friend Eddie Jordan that he will "probably go again" in Formula 1 at some point.

Indeed, he is already linked with moves to Ferrari, Aston Martin - and even Mercedes or Williams.

"I respect him immensely," said Williams boss James Vowles at Imola, having admitted two weeks ago in Miami that he had chatted with Newey about a potential return to the Grove-based team.

"I spoke to him about how Williams is the place to be again," Vowles smiled. "We’ve paused the talks for now, as he’s not in a hurry.

"There are some bigger players out there too who also want him."

Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has been more reluctant to admit the Maranello team’s interest in Newey, but Lewis Hamilton declared in Miami that he would "very much" like to work with his fellow Briton once he is wearing red in 2025 and beyond.

And now, at Imola, Charles Leclerc was also asked about the Newey-to-Ferrari rumours.

"Everyone in the paddock wants someone like Adrian," the Ferrari driver admitted. "Having him would be an added value, an opportunity.

"Now we’ll see if we can get him or not."

However, he agrees with Vasseur that Ferrari is already making its way towards returning to the very top of Formula 1 without Newey.

"As a team we are the ones who have improved the most in the last seven or eight months," Leclerc said. "But, yes, Adrian is one of those engineers who you want to work with one day in your career.

"We know each other, we talk to each other, so far we haven’t gone into details because he was at Red Bull, but in the future we’ll see if we can work together."

Red Bull consultant Dr Helmut Marko initially said after Miami that he sees Newey in a "green" uniform for his eventual F1 return - but changed his prediction to "red" just a few days later.

Fernando Alonso already wears Aston Martin green, and he said at Imola when asked about Newey: "I’ve always wanted to work with him.

"I think he is one of the best Formula 1 has ever had - a true legend of the sport. I’ve always expressed my admiration for him.

"We’ll see what he does in the future," Alonso added.