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Alonso: I'm lucky to have worked in F1 when Newey did
Fernando Alonso counts himself lucky to be “living and driving” at a time when Adrian Newey is in Formula 1, even if he has never worked with the celebrated designer.
Edited: Dec 22, 2023, 2:21 PM
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Red Bull chief technical officer Newey is widely recognised as one of the greatest F1 engineers of all time and is credited with penning 10 cars that have claimed the world constructors’ championship.
Reflecting on his decorated career earlier this year, Newey outlined that not directly crossing paths with Lewis Hamilton and Alonso, in addition to a possible Ferrari switch, were among his “emotional regrets”.
Speaking on F1’s ‘Beyond the Grid’ podcast, Newey said: “Working with Fernando and Lewis would have been fabulous. But it never happened. It’s just circumstance sometimes, that’s the way it is.”
When this was put to two-time world champion Alonso later in the season, the current Aston Martin driver said that simply to have overlapped with Newey’s time in the top flight was a privilege in itself.
Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool
Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer of Red Bull Racing
Although, the 42-year-old said he still hopes to one day work with Newey, having come close in the past.
“He’s a legend of the sport,” reflected Alonso. “We’ve been very close a few times to working together and we spoke about this.”
Alonso, who has been occasionally linked to a Red Bull switch, continued: “I remember when he published a book a few years ago in Spain, I had the privilege to do the first page, the prologue.
“For me, it’s just an incredible person that I was so lucky to work in the same environment as him.
“Even if we never worked together, I’m happy that [I'm] living and driving in this time - that Adrian Newey is just building Formula 1 cars.
“I wish one day that I was working with him… I’ll drive the [Aston Martin] Valkyrie [road-going track day car project initially led by Newey] at home and maybe I’ll feel something already when I jump in and that will make me happy.”
When it was put to Alonso that his warm sentiments towards Newey came despite the designer’s cars having cost the Spaniard more world championship success, he joked: “[Newey is] responsible for 19 drivers over two decades not to win championships!”
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Additional reporting by Alex Kalinauckas
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