Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton both made their admiration cle🐻ar for Adrian Newey in recent months.

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

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

But one racing dr📖iver did not see the potent💎ial in Newey.

Christian Danner is the ex-F1 driver who regards himself as the only person in motor racing to reject🐬 Newey’s꧋ help.

In 1982, with Newey 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 Newey, which is kind of a rotten privilege,” Danner told🌞 .

“But both Adrian and I🌄 are still laughing about it.

“A guy [Manfred Cassani]🦄 came to me and said: ‘I have 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 iꦛn an F2 race on the Nurburgring and one hillclimb rac෴e in the F2 car.”

Danner was offered a seat in the M🗹arch-BMW works team in🌸 1981.

He continued: “Never having any problems with confidence, I knew that I had no idea aboℱut driving single-seaters, so they sent me to Goodwood for a test [and] I was quick.

“The trouble was my team-ma꧂tes 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 single-seater is not all that easy.

“And i🔴t took🦩 me the 1981 season to get on top of it.”

Newey was working at Mar𝄹ch. He was Danner’s race engiღneer for a single race, at Silverstone. Danner retired after running out of fuel.

Da🌸nner’s tank was leaking, he later discovered. But he didn’t want his young, inexperienced race engineer Newey.

So, Danner demanded that New𒊎ey 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 very unconcentrated. He [once] foꦑrgot 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 u🐟p with Ralph running my car and Adrian ended up with [Johnny] Cecotto. It was Cecotto, myself and [Corrado] Fabi, who eventually won the championship.ꦜ”

Danner was later on and off♔ the Formula 1 grid for seven 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 i🐻n the sport.