Troubled Formula 1 team Alpine has emerged as a late contender to land Adrian Newey’s signature.
As the sport headed into its August break, Italy’s Autosprint magazine claimed a September announcement was now looming - with Aston Martin apparently beating Ferrari to the deal with the departing Red Bull guru.
Lawrence Stroll is said to have won over the 65-year-old with a four-year, $100 million contract - but now Auto Bild claims Alpine’s new executive advisor Flavio Briatore has thrown a spanner in the works.
"An insider revealed that that Renault CEO Luca di Meo and his new ’fireman’ Briatore have contacted the British mastermind and literally promised him the moon so that the aerodynamic genius will switch to Renault’s sporting subsidiary and get it back on the road to success," wrote Ralf Bach.
"In addition to the financial aspect, he (Briatore) guarantees Newey decision freedom in all areas. According to insiders, he is now considering the offer," the journalist added.
Newey is officially still under contract to Red Bull, but his duties are limited - including completing the RB17 supercar project. In the meantime, speculation surrounding his future have been rampant.
He told Red Bull’s Talking Bull podcast that dealing with the press attention has been "very easy because I don’t really read social media or I don’t particularly read magazines".
"That’s kind of something I stopped doing a long time ago," Newey added. "My wife keeps me roughly informed of what’s going on, but I’m relatively oblivious to it. I just try to lead my life and not be influenced by it."
Jo Ramirez, McLaren’s former team coordinator who worked with Newey at the Woking based outfit in the late 90s, thinks Ferrari is still in the running.
"Today, things are different in that you can work remotely and two or three days a week he will have his private plane to take him to Italy and back," he told El Mundo Deportivo newspaper.
"I haven’t spoken to him about it, although I did meet him at the historic Monaco GP and we chatted, although he didn’t say anything about it. He will continue in Formula 1, we just don’t know where."