British sailor Sir Ben Ainslie has admitted that Red Bull's Adrian Newey could play a key role in the latter's America's Cup yacht project.
Newey, said to be the best-paid and most highly regarded engineer in Formula 1, is already making headlines after it emerged he was stepping back at Red Bull to become involved in other high-tech projects.
Increasingly frustrated with F1's ever-tightening regulations, Newey has admitted his interest in top yacht design and has often been linked with Ainslie. On Tuesday (June 10 2014) Ainslie launched his R1.3-billion bid to win the 2017 America's Cup.
'KEEN TO HELP'
Ainslie was quoted by The Guardian in England: "I've had a couple of really good chats with Adrian. He's keen on racing in the America's Cup, it's great for us. He clearly has a lot of commitments still with F1 and it really depends how he can fit in something and still be involved in the team."
Newey's involvement link could tie in with the Red Bull 'Advanced Technologies Centre', reportedly devised to keep Newey out of the clutches of rival F1 teams.
Ainslie said: "It (yacht design) is all about aerodynamics and hydraulics so we've already started discussions with motorsport teams in the F1 world."
RED BULL INTEREST WANING?
He confirmed that Newey was "keen to help" a British team win the America's Cup. "There has been a lot of talk about Adrian joining the team and I've met him a number of times."
Meanwhile, with Newey sailing into other areas of design, Red Bull boss Christian Horner played down suggestions that Sebastian Vettel's commitment to the F1 team might also be waning. After four title successes the young German has struggled with a less-than-competitive car so far in 2014 and Newey's plans might be another blow.
Indeed, when asked about Newey's plans away from F1, Vettel said last weekend: "I'm looking short-term, if you ask me about the future right now."
Horner insisted to The Mirror (anotherr UK newspaper) that he had "no doubt" Vettel would be driving a Red Bull "for many years to come".
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Newey, said to be the best-paid and most highly regarded engineer in Formula 1, is already making headlines after it emerged he was stepping back at Red Bull to become involved in other high-tech projects.
Increasingly frustrated with F1's ever-tightening regulations, Newey has admitted his interest in top yacht design and has often been linked with Ainslie. On Tuesday (June 10 2014) Ainslie launched his R1.3-billion bid to win the 2017 America's Cup.
'KEEN TO HELP'
Ainslie was quoted by The Guardian in England: "I've had a couple of really good chats with Adrian. He's keen on racing in the America's Cup, it's great for us. He clearly has a lot of commitments still with F1 and it really depends how he can fit in something and still be involved in the team."
Newey's involvement link could tie in with the Red Bull 'Advanced Technologies Centre', reportedly devised to keep Newey out of the clutches of rival F1 teams.
Ainslie said: "It (yacht design) is all about aerodynamics and hydraulics so we've already started discussions with motorsport teams in the F1 world."
RED BULL INTEREST WANING?
He confirmed that Newey was "keen to help" a British team win the America's Cup. "There has been a lot of talk about Adrian joining the team and I've met him a number of times."
Meanwhile, with Newey sailing into other areas of design, Red Bull boss Christian Horner played down suggestions that Sebastian Vettel's commitment to the F1 team might also be waning. After four title successes the young German has struggled with a less-than-competitive car so far in 2014 and Newey's plans might be another blow.
Indeed, when asked about Newey's plans away from F1, Vettel said last weekend: "I'm looking short-term, if you ask me about the future right now."
Horner insisted to The Mirror (anotherr UK newspaper) that he had "no doubt" Vettel would be driving a Red Bull "for many years to come".
Stay with Wheels24 for fresh F1 reports daily