Luca di Montezemolo, Ferrari’s president, has become impatient with the lack
of success, and will have to look elsewhere for signings after Newey
rebuffed his approach.
In Spain Newey had sounded more open to offers. “There are always rumours,
aren’t there? What can I say? It’s the silly season. We’re all under
contract, so at some point I’ve got to think about the future but my focus
at the moment is trying to get back on top of those silver cars.”
Even after his unequivocal commitment to Red Bull, the rumours will
undoubtedly bubble up to the surface in the future. On a CV better than any
other designer or person in the sport, the one gap is the Italian team.
One member of Ferrari whose relationship appears increasingly sour – it has
done for the last year or so – is Fernando Alonso.
Again on Wednesday he came out with some cryptic comments which appeared to be
critical of the team.
After he was praised by a member of the Mercedes board, he said: “It’s always
welcome when people see your job in a good way and respect what you try to
do and what you try to achieve.
“It’s sometimes; not sad, but sometimes strange to see good comments and good
compliments from people from outside, and from the side that is supposed to
be close to you there are the opposite comments.
“That’s motivating for me. It’s good to receive good comments but it is funny
when you see the opposite in your closest friends.”