Adrian Newey F1: Design guru hails 'special' Ferrari at Goodwood Festival of Speed

F1 News & Gossip

Newey hails 'SPECIAL' Ferrari at Goodwood Festival of Speed

He's been linked with a switch to the Italian team next season

Simmey Hannifin Donaldson F1 Editor

Motorsport journalist covering F1 since 2024

Sunday 14 July 2024 17:57

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Red Bull global chief technical officer Adrian Newey has hailed his experience with an iconic Ferrari as 'special' at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

The motoring festival is taking place at the Goodwood Estate near Chichester this week, with several Formula 1 teams and drivers in attendance.

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One of those is Red Bull, for whom it was an important event given that the team are celebrating their 20th anniversary and marking the occasion at the festival.

As such, they went all out, bringing their current driver lineup of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to the event, along with former stars Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber and David Coulthard.

Team boss Christian Horner was also in attendance, along with Newey, even though the design guru will be leaving the team in the first quarter of 2025.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner alongside Adrian Newey at Goodwood

Adrian Newey's RB17 hypercar was also showcased at Goodwood

Adrian Newey drives 'special' Ferrari

It was an action-packed few days for Newey, who, along with unveiling his RB17 hypercar, also drove the famous hill at Goodwood on several occasions.

Newey did so in Niki Lauda's first Ferrari - the 312 B3 - in which the eventual three-time world champion won two grands prix.

Given that the Red Bull design chief has been heavily linked with a move to the Italian outfit, being spotted in one of the famous red cars will hardly do much to quash those rumours. However, Newey will not mind one bit, hailing his experience in the car as 'special'.

“Enjoying it. Lovely,” the Red Bull design guru replied on the Goodwood broadcast when asked how it was to be in the cockpit of the iconic car.

Adrian Newey has been linked with a move to Ferrari

Newey later continued: "I knew Niki quite well and so to be here, sitting in the same seat and just trying to think what he must have been experiencing and how he prepared himself before the start [of a race] and everything [is] really special.”

Lauda's two victories in the Ferrari 312-B3 came in 1974, with the Austrian star winning the Spanish and Dutch Grands Prix that season.

Partly due to reliability reasons, Ferrari and their drivers would go on to miss out on winning a championship in the car. Crucially, however, the 312-B3 was the foundation for Ferrari's 312T design.

Ferrari's 312T cars competed from the mid-1970s onwards in various forms and helped both the team and Lauda scoop up multiple championships.