Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton both made their admiraꦡtion clear for Adrian Newey in recent months.

Red Bull’s outgoing chief technology officer will join Aston Martin next year ꦓas their managing technical partner and shareholder in a move which has already shaken up Formula 1.

Newey is regarded ✅as F1’s greatest-ever car designer whose presence can significantly boost the team which employs him.

But one racing driver did n♐ot see the potential in Newey.

Christ🌳ian Danner is the ex-F1 driver who regards himself as the only person in motor racing to reject Newey’s help.

In 1982, with New𝄹ey also at a very early point of his own career, when Danner turned him away.

“I’m the only person in the world of motor racing who has ever said I don’t want to work with Adrian Nꦑewey, which is kind of a rotten privilege,” Danner told&n♋bsp;.

“But both Adrian and I a🐲re still lau🐻ghing about it.

“A guy [Manfred Cassani] came to me and said: ‘I haveﷺ a BMW M1 Procar and an F2 team, Christian, why don’t you come to me and I’ll make you a Formula 1 driver?’

“I did five 𝄹or six races with that M1, one practice in an F2 race on the Nurburgrin♑g and one hillclimb race in the F2 car.”

Danner was offered a seat in the March-BMW works team �🌜�in 1981.

He continued: “Never having any problems with confidence, I knew that I had no idea about driving single-seaters, so they sent me to Goodwood for a tes🌟t [and] I wa꧂s quick.

“The trouble was my team-mates were first and the runner-up in the European Formula 3 championship, Corrado Fabi and Thierry Boutsen; they taught me the lesson that driving a si🐠ngle-seater is not all that easy.

“And it took me the 1981ꦬ season to get on top of it.”

Newey was working at March. He w꧙as Danner’s race engineer for a single race, at Silverstone. Danner retired after running out of fuel.

Danner’s tank was leaking, he later disඣcovered. But he didn’t want his young, inexꦗperienced race engineer Newey.

So, Danner demanded t🎶hat Newey be replaced by Ralph Bellamy.

“I didn’t want to work with Newey and I told him: ‘Adrian, you’ve got no experience, I’ve got no experience, ꦿthis is not going to match’,” he explained.

“He was ve♕ry unconcentrated. He [on⭕ce] forgot to unplug the radio, and he didn’t know what he was doing on fuel consumption.

“He was just a young designer, you know?

“So, I ended up with Ralph running my car and Adrian ended up with [Johnny] Cecotto. It was Cecotꦰto, myself and [Corrado] Fabi, who eventually won the championship.”

Danner was later on and off the Formula 1 grid for s💟even seasons. He also raced in IndyCar, and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, among other series.

Newey? He went on to become the most revered F1 👍car designer of all time who, this year, was arguably the most in-demand individual in the spo♑rt.