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Adrian Newey, one of the most renowned car designers in Formula One history, has found a new home — Aston Martin. The Silverstone-based team announced the signing on Tuesday, marking an end to months of speculation.
Newey will take up the role of managing technical partner and will start work at Aston Martin in March 2025, leading the team’s 2026 race car development.
The 65-year-old has signed a long-term contract and will also become a shareholder in the team.
Newey said: “I am thrilled to be joining the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team. I have been hugely inspired and impressed by the passion and commitment that (executive chairman) Lawrence (Stroll) brings to everything he is involved with.
“Lawrence is determined to create a world-beating team. He is the only majority team owner who is actively engaged in the sport. His commitment is demonstrated in the development of the new AMR Technology Campus and wind tunnel at Silverstone, which are not only state of the art but have a layout that creates a great environment to work in.
“Together with great partners like Honda and Aramco, they have all the key pieces of infrastructure needed to make Aston Martin a world championship-winning team and I am very much looking forward to helping reach that goal.”
Stroll added: “This is huge news. Adrian is the best in the world at what he does – he is at the top of his game – and I am incredibly proud that he is joining the Aston Martin Aramco Formula OneTeam.
“It’s the biggest story since the Aston Martin name returned to the sport and another demonstration of our ambition to build a Formula One team capable of fighting for world championships. As soon as Adrian became available, we knew we had to make it happen.
“Our initial conversations confirmed that there was a shared desire to collaborate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Adrian is a racer and one of the most competitive people I have ever met.
“We mean business – and so does he. Adrian shares our hunger and ambition, he believes in this project, and he will help us write the next chapter in Aston Martin Aramco’s Formula One story.”
News broke in May that Newey would leave Red Bull in the spring of 2025 after 19 years with the team. Since joining Red Bull in 2006, he’s played a role in all of the team’s wins and championships.
A race for the designer’s services began among Red Bull’s rivals, including McLaren, Williams and Ferrari, but in the end, Aston Martin landed another notable hire. Fernando Alonso signed a multi-year deal with the team, which is owned by billionaire Lawrence Stroll, in April. And in July, the team announced former Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell would join as CEO and Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile would become chief technical officer.
Aston Martin say a tour of the team’s AMR Technology Campus in June was key to securing Newey’s services.
It was no secret that Aston Martin was keen to land Newey’s signature. As recently as the Dutch Grand Prix, team boss Mike Krack was asked about the rumors and how Aston Martin appeared to be gaining momentum in the race to sign the designer.
“I was on holiday over the summer break, so I cannot really comment on that. But you keep asking me that question, and again, I can only repeat what we have said,” Krack said. “We are becoming a more and more attractive team. We have great infrastructure developing, so again, we are honored to be put together with that name.”
Why Aston Martin signed Newey
Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll put it best in Austria — Newey is “the GOAT (greatest of all time).”
“He’s got more championships than anyone in this paddock,” Stroll added, “so he’s someone that everyone would love to have in their team colors.”
Newey’s career has spanned 35 years, and he’s played a role in 12 drivers’ and 13 constructors’ championships along the way. In addition to being part of all of Red Bull’s F1 wins and titles since joining the team in 2006, Newey designed title-winning cars at Williams, for the likes of Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve, as well as both of Mika Hakkinen’s championships with McLaren.
The news of Newey’s upcoming departure broke the week of the Miami Grand Prix, and numerous media sessions across the weekend included questions about the announcement. Mercedes’ Toto Wolff said, “Adrian is an icon of the sport,” while RB’s Daniel Ricciardo called it a “privilege to work with him, (a) privilege to drive several of his race cars.” McLaren’s Lando Norris shared how he thought “anyone who is going to have Adrian on their team is probably going to move forward,” touching on how “Red Bull have been the most consistent team over the last 10, 15 years.”
In Miami, Red Bull’s Sergio Pérez said that Newey had become “a very good friend of mine” and said the departure was “not ideal.” The Red Bull driver expressed confidence in the technical organization and aerodynamics department.
“I think you’ve seen in the past with these big teams, big names, when they leave, they will always exist, it doesn’t matter,” Pérez said in Miami. “It’s not down to one single individual – it’s a whole organization, and I think Christian has done a great job in sort of preparing for the next generation of what’s going to happen to Red Bull.”
The structure of Red Bull’s technical team has evolved over the years. Newey wasn’t just involved in the F1 side of operations but also designed a new hypercar, the Red Bull RB17. Red Bull technical chief Pierre Waché described Newey in Imola as one who “has a mentality of a racer.” When asked that same race weekend what impact Newey’s departure would have on the team, Waché acknowledged how Newey is “maybe the most successful engineer in F1.” But departures do happen.
“It’s a big effect for us, but the team was prepared. It’s not like we expect him for 20 years more. We have to build the team around and make sure that we are prepared for this eventuality.”
Others in the paddock anticipate that a move like this will impact Red Bull. Williams’ James Vowles said in Miami, “He’s an incredible character that has huge accolades behind him in the sport, well known for being the best designer really in his field. And that will have an impact, there’s no doubt about it.”
But what kind of impact is unknown. Krack said in Miami earlier this year, “If someone of that skills and experience and qualities is leaving a team, it has an impact. On the other hand, there will be others. There are always opportunities as well for other people. It’s a team sport these days. It’s very, very large teams that work together. To say much more, you have to be in the team because each team is also a little bit differently structured, differently working, so to really say what impact it will have, it would be a pure guess.”
The state of Aston Martin F1
Heading into the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, fifth-place Aston Martin leads the second half of the grid in the constructor standings with 74 points, 40 ahead of RB but 218 points off of fourth-place Mercedes. It’s building a new campus and wind tunnel, but the team’s performance right now is off from where it ultimately wants to be.
Aston Martin walked away point-less from the Italian GP, Alonso finishing less than two-tenths of a second outside the top 10. It had looked promising, the Spaniard running in points contention for the majority of the race, but Williams’ Alex Albon and Haas’ Kevin Magnussen both did a one-stop race while Alonso executed a two-stopper.
“We need to be patient. We need to understand that the big target is 2026. But at the same time, as a team, we could accept not being in the top four battle,” he said after the race. “They are top teams and they are well in front of us. But now, to be behind Williams, behind Haas, behind Toro Rosso, I think we need to raise the bar a little bit. We need to get better.”
Alonso said in Miami earlier this year that he’s always wanted to work with Newey. Fast forward to the Italian GP weekend, he was asked about the suggestion of Newey joining Aston Martin, and while acknowledging that this was a rumor (at that time), he said, “I think it’s not only one man’s job to fix things. It’s more what we have now and what we are producing. Understanding what is going in the right direction, what is going in the wrong direction, and try to prepare 2025 in a better way.”
Aston Martin already has a technical director in place: Dan Fallows, who left Red Bull and joined the Silverstone-based team in spring 2022. During the Dutch GP weekend, Krack was asked how Newey would fit into the technical structure.
“Formula One these days is so broad, it is not like you have to make huge changes. I think there was a time where there was a team that had seven technical directors in the past, so I think we are very far from that,” he said. “Someone like that, you have to make any kind of effort to integrate and adjust your structure to get the best out of it.”
Aston Martin say the appointment of Newey “adds further strength to an established senior leadership team” and “demonstrates the ambition and momentum behind the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team project”.
Top photo: Mark Thompson/Getty Images
