Adrian Newey has admitted he considered working with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari - but was ultimately persuaded to head to Aston Martin instead.
Shockwaves were sent around the F1 world earlier this year when it was confirmed the 65-year-old would be leaving Red Bull after a glittering 19-year stint.
Newey was then immediately linked with Ferrari, the team Hamilton will race for next season.
Fast-forward to now, however, and it's been confirmed that the engineer will become Aston Martin's Managing Technical Partner in 2025.
F1 news: Adrian Newey has admitted he considered working with Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari - but was ultimately persuaded to head to Aston Martin instead
SKY
Speaking to Sky Sports, Newey has admitted that he was tempted by the idea of working with Hamilton.
Yet he has instead opted to join Aston Martin, with the experienced chief looking forward to coaxing the best from another F1 veteran in Fernando Alonso.
"Once after a couple of months I decided I would like to stay in Formula 1, Ferrari was one of the considerations," he said.
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"I've made no secret of the fact I wanted to work with Fernando and I wanted to work with Lewis. And since they're in different teams, I couldn't fulfil both.
"But I think for various reasons, particularly Lawrence [Stoll's] offer of shareholding and partnership and his commitment and the fact that he is the only one of that old model of team owners, where you have an active owner like Frank Williams.
"That was the model 20 years ago. Lawrence is the only one of that model now."
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Aston Martin are yet to see any of their drivers win the F1 Drivers' Championship since returning to F1 in 2021.
But Newey is relishing the pressure as he looks to create a winning environment similar to the one he operated in at Red Bull.
"My pressure's always come from within in truth," he continued.
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"Frank Williams many years ago said that he thought I was the most competitive person in the pitlane.
"I didn't know how to take that at the time but after a year or two it started to sink in what he meant. I'm not sure he was right but I understood what he meant.
"I suppose I put quite a lot of pressure on myself, perhaps a little bit less than I used to as I've got older. But that pressure comes from within."
F1 news: Adrian Newey is relishing the pressure after leaving Red Bull for Aston Martin
SKY
And while Newey acknowledges Aston Martin don't currently have a car ready to compete with the best, he's confident enough to believe he can transform their fortunes.
"Of course if the car's not performing as well as we'd like then yes of course there's pressure," he added.
"But Formula 1 is always pressure. If you're winning you're under pressure to stay there, if you're not winning, you're under pressure to get there."