Verstappen Avoids Answering Whether He Would Follow Newey To Aston Martin In 2026

Friday, 13 September 2024 at 14:00

Red Bull's Max Verstappen shared his opinion of Adrian Newey's move to Aston Martin but avoided answering when asked whether he would follow the car designer in 2026.

Aston Martin announced a new team member ahead of the 2024 Azerbaijan Grand Prix: Adrian Newey will join the team as a Managing Technical Partner and shareholder.

This is yet another huge move that the team's owner, Lawrence Stroll, managed to pull off. What's more, PlanetF1 reported he didn't plan to stop there and also wanted to snatch Max Verstappen from Red Bull.

Aston Martin's team principal, Mike Krack, confirmed that his F1 team would be interested when approached with questions connecting the triple World Champion to the British team. He told the media at Baku City Circuit:

“"The door for Max Verstappen is always open, I think, for every team."”

Now that we know Aston Martin is interested in Verstappen, the big question is: Would he be interested in following Adrian Newey to the Aston Martin F1 team as soon as 2026? The Dutchman said, as per RacingNews365:

“"I have other worries at the moment that I'm paying a lot of attention to and I'm working on. So that is something maybe for the future that I think about. Not now."”

Verstappen's Drivers' Championship title with Red Bull is being threatened by Lando Norris from McLaren, so he has other worries now. On the other hand, it seems he keeps his options open in case Red Bull wasn't as competitive in 2025.

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Verstappen's reaction to Newey's Aston Martin move:

Adrian Newey and Max Verstappen have worked together for nine years - ever since the the Dutchman joined Red Bull Racing in 2016.

When Newey told Verstappen that he wanted to leave the team, the 26-year-old F1 driver replied he would love him to stay but also understood and didn't try to stop him.

Following the announcement of Newey's next home - Aston Martin, Max Verstappen revealed he sent the 65-year-old car designer a message. He said:

“"To be honest, that's fine. Adrian and I, we have a very good understanding. I sent him a message after the news came out - even though, of course, I knew that it was coming - so I'm happy for him. It's a new challenge."”

“"Of course, I always said I would have loved him to stay, but at one point you cannot overturn these things, so then you're just excited for people seeking new challenges."”

“"I also know that Lawrence, of course, is pushing flat out to make it a success with Aston Martin, so it's quite understandable, of course, that he wants to have Adrian on his side."”