Is it Realistic for Aston Martin to Attract Verstappen? Newey Speaks
May 25 – Aston Martin is “pipe-dreaming” if it thinks Max Verstappen would consider swapping his Red Bull for a green car in the “short term”.
That’s the view of Adrian Newey, who designed all of the quadruple world champion’s title-winning cars between 2021 and 2024.
This year, however, Red Bull is having a tougher time – notably now in the absence of 66-year-old Formula 1 design genius Newey, who made the switch to Aston Martin for 2025 and beyond.
The first ‘Newey’ Aston Martin will only race in 2026, and on his first visit to a paddock so far this season in Monaco, the Briton admitted he has “no idea” whether it will be a winner.
“If we’re to ever attract Max, the first thing we have to do is make a fast car,” Newey admitted.
“He is clearly a phenomenal talent and a supreme competitor, but there’s no point in pipe-dreaming about having him in the short term.
“Max takes things to a simple level, and in this particular case he will try to choose the team that he considers will have the fastest car.”
Speed aside, some think another factor of critical importance to 27-year-old Verstappen when it comes to choosing his team is the freedom to do as he pleases – like testing at the Nordschleife or skipping official ‘F1’ movie screenings.
Sport1 asked former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld at Monaco if the sport is increasingly seeing Verstappen as a “rebel”.
“Hard to say,” the 48-year-old smiled. “But you can tell – he doesn’t go with the flow. He believes in himself and questions things.
“The fact that he didn’t join in with Netflix because it was too fake for him speaks volumes. The important thing is that he stays grounded and continues to develop, but that’s exactly what he’s doing.”
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Having to schmooze advertisers, going to press events is part of the job, having to go watch a movie should never be part of the “have to’s. Just watched the trailer, I personally think it going to be a stinker.
And drivers having to wear team kit, what a joke, nice to Alonso and Another refused that polite team request, i wont be watching it either Susan, theres already enough fake characters in the real sport, Max 50M a year, like he needs Netflix and movie premiers, hang on, that sounds like a Dames game.
Good on Max. Doing his own thing is great.I applaud him.
If any other team wants him as a driver they will need to let him do things his way, not try to make him conform.
That’s his persona , do you wins or somebody that can suck up to people.
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