Damon Hill absolutely loved the message Williams sent to Adrian Newey after Aston Martin announcement

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Adrian Newey has confirmed his next destination in the Formula 1 paddock and it’s another team he’s yet to step foot in during his illustrious career.

After spells over the last 44 years with Fittipaldi, March, Haas Lola, Leyton House, Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, Adrian Newey’s latest project will take place at Silverstone at Aston Martin’s state-of-the-art facility.

Newey has 25 F1 championships to his name already and team owner Lawrence Stroll will hope he can continue adding to that tally beyond 2025 when he joins the team as managing technical partner.

Unsurprisingly given his success in the sport, once it became clear that Newey was on the move, almost every team up and down the paddock made enquiries about trying to hire him.

His manager Eddie Jordan admitted Newey held long discussions with Ferrari but those eventually fizzled out when a secret tour of Aston Martin’s factory convinced Newey that they were the next team to add to his illustrious CV.

Williams were another team who reportedly had some interest in hiring Newey ahead of next season.

Team principal James Vowles is extremely ambitious and his 2025 driver line-up of Alex Albon and Carlos Sainz has certainly turned some heads.

However, they ultimately missed out on hiring the 65-year-old but former world champion Damon Hill – who worked with Newey at Williams – admired the message they sent their former employee ahead of his next adventure.

READ MORE: Damon Hill shares his verdict on Aston Martin signing Adrian Newey

Damon Hill reacts to Williams message of congratulations to Adrian Newey after Aston Martin switch

Posting on social media after Newey’s press conference at Aston Martin’s Silverstone base, the Williams F1 team said: “Another step in a legendary career. Look forward to battling it out on track.”

This was accompanied by a picture of Newey working for the team back in the 1990s.

In response to Williams’s message, Hill replied and simply said: “This is magnanimous,” alluding to the fact that Williams are probably well aware that one of their current rivals on the track is about to get an awful lot stronger.

Williams told their F1 project was ‘too much work’ for Adrian Newey

Vowles has said in the past that Williams’s facilities aren’t up to scratch compared to their rivals which would have made attracting Newey to the team very difficult.

Ted Kravitz believed that the Williams project would have been too much work for Newey who will be 66 when he starts at Aston Martin and may not want to commit to a team that may only be ready to win races in the era after the upcoming rule changes in 2026.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Williams Racing from team principal to Mercedes relationship

Albon and Sainz will hope the team are fighting for more than just not finishing bottom of the Constructors’ Championship next year.

Having Mercedes power units in 2026 will help Williams but it would be a surprise if they were on the same level as the works team or fellow customers McLaren.

However, stranger things have happened in F1 and the pecking order on the grid will be shaken up at the conclusion of next season.