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Ka-ching! Newey tempted by R240m?

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<b>SEEING RED?</b> Can Red Bull's designer Adrian Newey resist Ferrari's job overtures for much longer? <i>Image: AFP</i>
<b>SEEING RED?</b> Can Red Bull's designer Adrian Newey resist Ferrari's job overtures for much longer? <i>Image: AFP</i>
LONDON, England - Ferrari has not given up on wooing Adrian Newey into joining its elves at its mystical Maranello dream factory.

So says the authoritative Italian daily La Gazzetta dello Sport whose Formula 1 correspondent Luigi Perna outlined what he believed was the latest plan to sign Red Bull's highly coveted technical boss.

Red Bull has rejected speculation about Newey leaving by insisting the 55-year-old "remains committed for the foreseeable future" but that may have been before Ferrari's latest audacious offer to the Briton.

LUCRATIVE OFFER

Perna said Ferrari was offering Newey unprecedented technical freedom, his own road-going supercar project and involvement in a possible Le Mans prototype bid. Not to mention annual pay equivalent of about of about R240-million a year.

"If the odds at first were zero now the odds are 20-30%," opines Perna. "It all depends on Newey."

It has also been claimed that signing Newey might convince Red Bull's quadruple F1 champion Sebastian Vettel to join him at Maranello to drive a red car but German Vettel said on Tuesday (May 27 2014): "I feel very good about where I am and have so much for which to thank my team. You don't just throw in the towel and look for something else after six bad races."

Curiously, Vettel was at the wheel of Gerhard Berger's 1988 Ferrari that same day for a promotional event at the forthcoming Austrian GP venue. He got out of the car and said "Incredibile!" - the Italian version of incredible, in case you hadn't guessed.

Red Bull's Helmut Marko grinned at reporters: "You can let our friends know quietly in Maranello that Sebastian even drives his Ferraris with us."
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