“Every team wanted him” - Mercedes' hopes of signing F1 wizard suffer serious blow

F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia - Final Practice — Adrian Newey, the Chief Technical Officer of Red Bull Racing, looks on in the Paddock prior to final practice ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 18, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)

David Coulthard, former Formula 1 driver, feels that there is no way Adrian Newey could have gone to Mercedes, or any other team on the grid at this point in time. He was referring to the rumours that had been going around.

The rumor flying around the paddock was that Mercedes tried to approach Red Bull's chief technical officer, Adrian Newey, but he denied the team's offer. Coulthard believes that it is impossible that Newey would leave RBR now because of all the hard work he has put into the team. GPFans quoted him as saying:

"He’s been with the team for such a long period of time, he’s in his 60s, the question is, did he want to take a new challenge with another team?"

"Every team wanted him."

Adrian Newey is one of the finest car designers in Formula 1. His work with teams like Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull has proven to be quite unique. The cars he designed with the teams have won multiple world championships and prove that he is highly efficient with his aerodynamic designs.

Since Mercedes has been struggling with their team's aero design for the last two seasons, it is quite obvious why they would want to hire an expert in design like Newey. But, as Coulthard suggested, the Briton wouldn't change his team in Formula 1 now or in future.

"He’s committed to Red Bull long-term. This will be his last Formula 1 team."

Lewis Hamilton warns of Red Bull's domination making the sport 'boring'

Adrian Newey's car design has helped Red Bull to remain extremely dominant this season as the team won all five races so far. They are being followed up by Aston Martin in second, and Mercedes is still in third.

Lewis Hamilton mentioned that the competitiveness of the sport seems to be disappearing with just a single team dominating. He thinks that it might become boring for a fan to watch a single team win all the races. Ironically enough, Mercedes were on a winning streak until the 2021 season themselves.

"It's not my job to convince people to watch a sport. I'm not watching, so it's not boring for me. But as a fan watching, I can understand because it's not as competitive as maybe the NFL or the NBA at the moment. As a sport, it has tried to bring the teams closer, but it never seems to work."

Regulations were changed in the 2022 season, bringing back the ground effect for cars to follow each other closely, to make the grid more competitive. But after teams like Mercedes talked about the safety of the drivers, the new change in the rules has again changed the aero design. It has helped Max Verstappen to lead the entire grid.