Watch: Red Bull aero wizard drives Niki Lauda's iconic Ferrari 312 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed

Red Bull Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey drove the iconic Ferrari 312 B3 on day three of the Goodwood Festival of Speed. The aero wizard has been quite busy at the festival as on day two he, along with Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, unveiled the highly-anticipated RB17 to the world.

The hypercar had been a pet project for the 65-year-old and the Red Bull Advanced Technologies for the last couple of years. It is touted to produce similar lap times as an F1 car and could reach speeds of 350 km/h.

On day three of the festival, Adrian Newey was seen behind the wheel of former three-time world champion Niki Lauda's 1974 Ferrari 312 B3, with which the latter won the races in Zandvoort and Spain.

After driving Lauda's 1974 Ferrari, Newey was overwhelmed with emotion and termed the experience of driving the Austrian's car as 'special'. He said (via PlanetF1):

“To be driving Niki’s old car, his Championship-winning car, is so special it really is. I knew Niki quite well and so to be in here sitting in the same seat and just trying to think what he must have been experiencing and how he’s prepared himself before the start and everything is really special.”

Red Bull aero wizard gives his take on the design of Niki Lauda's Ferrari

Red Bull aero wizard stated that it was a 'fitting tribute' for him to honor the legacy of one of the bravest and most competitive F1 drivers of all time in Niki Lauda.

As quoted by the aforementioned source, Newey said:

“It’s absolutely amazing and a very fitting tribute to him. The cars are so different. I mean, I love these cars. The Lotus 49 from ’67, and ’68 was the first car I really sort of started to look at, and then by the time we got to this car, when I was 15, I did a painting of it actually for my art project."

He also gave his take on the engineering behind the F1 cars in the late '60s and '70s and the challenges faced by the designers in that era, adding:

“Looking at the engineering back then, it must have been a fascinating area to work in because, on the plus side, you had a rule book which is about two pages but the budgets are relatively small, and I think much more importantly, you didn’t have the research tools.

"The design part was done primarily on gut instinct. Wind tunnels were just starting so it must have been fascinating.” he added.

There were some rumors of Adrian Newey joining Ferrari for the 2025 season and designing his own red car with Lewis Hamilton driving it but he hasn't made any official statement about his future post his Red Bull exit.