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Frederic Vasseur touched upon Ferrari's failed attempt to sign Adrian Newey. As per reports, the revered aerodynamicist is set to join Aston Martin for a mammoth $200 million (£150 million) deal over a period of five years after he rejected the Prancing Horse's offer to move to Maranello.
Vasseur for long, has been an admirer of Newey and his works in F1. Ever since the British engineer's decision to leave Red Bull surfaced, the Maranello-based team has been a strong contender to land him.
With Vasseur and Lewis Hamilton already in the team, Tifosi hopes Newey's addition could make them the force to be reckoned with, something they were in the early 2000s, but Newey and Aston Martin had other ideas.
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Now, looking back at how the deal fell apart and the implications surrounding it, the Ferrari boss spoke to French Media Lequipe, where he opened up about a misunderstanding between him and Newey. He said:
"He probably had a different idea of what I thought for him. Maybe we'll find common ground one day."
Since Adrian Newey and Ferrari failed to reach an agreement, the Prancing Horse decided to move to Loic Serra instead. Serra, a former Mercedes man, will join as the technical director from October 1. Speaking about Serra, Vasseur said:
"Loïc's strength is that he is an experienced man who has spent a lot of time at the highest level. And what's more, he is a racing man."
Keeping Serra aside, Ferrari's biggest signing in the sport's history was landing Lewis Hamilton at the beginning of the year. In February, the most successful F1 team agreed a multi-year deal starting from 2025, worth $446 million with Hamilton, the most successful F1 driver.
Insight into Adrian Newey's mammoth Aston Martin deal
According to the BBC, Aston Martin agreed a five-year deal with Adrian Newey where they will pay the revered engineer around $40 million (£30 million) a year.
Lawrence Stroll's team is expected to announce Newey in a few days. Reports say that the announcement is set to arrive ahead of the upcoming 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix at Baku next weekend.
The aero wizard will join the team in 2025, work with drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, and reunite with his old friends from Red Bull, Dan Fallows, the team's technical director.
Newey decided to leave Red Bull following the Austrian team's internal tussle for power that reportedly unsettled him. Red Bull's shareholders in Austria and Thailand developed apparent differences within the team, which eventually forced Newey to move out of Milton-Keynes.
