Verstappen refuses to rule out reunion with Newey at Aston Martin

Max Verstappen has refused to rule out the possibility of again working with Adrian Newey – this time at Aston Martin.

Red Bull chief technical officer Newey was confirmed as Aston Martin’s managing technical partner this week on a rumoured £30million-per-year deal, with F1’s most-decorated designer to start on March 1 next year.

Three-time F1 champion Verstappen has previously revealed speaking to Newey in the hope of convincing him to stay after it emerged in early May he would be leaving Red Bull after 19 seasons.

Newey, however, opted to sever his ties, and after being courted by several of Red Bull’s rivals, opted to join the technical ‘dream team’ that is being formed at Aston Martin by owner Lawrence Stroll.

Team principal Mike Krack, when asked about the possibility of Stroll recruiting Verstappen in the future, declared that “the door is always open” to the 26-year-old Dutch driver.

As to following Newey to the Silverstone-based team, potentially as early as 2026, Verstappen, speaking to media, including RacingNews365, said: “I have other worries at the moment that I’m paying a lot of attention to and I’m working on.

“So that is something maybe for the future that I think about. Not now.”

Verstappen can ‘understand’ Newey exit

Despite watching events unfold at Aston Martin’s state-of-the-art facility on Tuesday, Verstappen has now made his peace with Newey’s exit.

Verstappen respects what Stroll is attempting to achieve with his seemingly money-no-object approach to claiming grand prix victories and challenging for championships.

Addressing how he felt about seeing Newey at Aston Martin, Verstappen said: “To be honest, that’s fine. Adrian and I, we have a very good understanding.

“I sent him a message after the news came out – even though, of course, I knew that it was coming – so I’m happy for him. It’s a new challenge.

“Of course, I always said I would have loved him to stay, but at one point you cannot overturn these things, so then you’re just excited for people seeking new challenges.

“I also know that Lawrence, of course, is pushing flat out to make it a success with Aston Martin, so it’s quite understandable, of course, that he wants to have Adrian on his side.”