According to Jeremy Clarkson, the well-known former presenter of Top Gear, Adrian Newey is unlikely to be transferring to Ferrari as previously speculated.
Last weekend at Silverstone, Newey was seen donning Red Bull apparel once again, despite an ongoing reduction in his technical role anticipating his future exit from the team.
The 65-year-old has been the subject of widespread speculation regarding a possible switch to Ferrari or Aston Martin, among other Formula 1 teams.
"The only thing that is certain is that to officially know Newey's future, we will have to wait until September, when his commitment to Red Bull expires," reported the Italian publication Autosprint.
However, Clarkson, who shares a long-standing friendship with Newey from their days at Repton public school in Derbyshire, hinted at the British GP about Newey's actual plans.
"Want an exclusive?" Clarkson posed to a Viaplay reporter while attending as a guest of the Alpine team at Silverstone.
"I know that Adrian Newey is house-hunting in Oxfordshire, not Maranello."
Oxfordshire houses both Williams and Alpine, with Haas also maintaining a satellite facility in the area. Nearby Northamptonshire is home to Mercedes and Aston Martin.
Newey has previously turned down offers from Ferrari, opting not to uproot his family to Italy.
But this week, team boss Frederic Vasseur spoke about the impact of Lewis Hamilton joining the team from 2025.
"For us, (Hamilton is) also the best way to attract good people," he told the Financial Times. "We have good people at Ferrari, but I want to reinforce."
"Most (engineers) are in the UK," Vasseur continued. "If you move from Mercedes in Brackley to Red Bull in Milton Keynes, you keep the children at the same school - you keep the same house. Coming to Italy, it's a different story. You have to move the family," he explained. "It's a change of life. The move of Lewis will help us."