Aston Martin has confirmed that Adrian Newey will be joining the team as part of a long-term partnership. The superstar F1 designer will take up the newly-created role of Managing Technical Partner, alongside becoming a shareholder. He will begin working at the team’s Silverstone HQ from March 1, 2025 – in time to oversee the 2026 car’s design, for when the new regulations come into effect.
- Newey will start working at Aston Martin from March 2025
- He’s been behind 13 drivers’ and 12 constructors’ titles so far
“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 Lawrence [Stroll, Executive Chairman of Aston Martin] brings to everything he is involved with,” said Newey.
“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 also 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.”
Adrian Newey’s Road to Red Bull
In a career spanning over four decades, Adrian Newey has played a key role in shaping the course of F1. He’s been behind a whopping 13 drivers’ and 12 constructors’ titles for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull. So, it isn’t surprising that news of him leaving Red Bull grabbed headlines worldwide earlier this year, even causing some to question whether this would mark the end of the Austrian team’s dominant run.
Newey’s F1 journey started with the March/Leyton House in the late 1980s. During that period, he helped set the template for aerodynamically driven modern F1 cars. But it was his move to Williams, that brought him widespread acclaim. That partnership delivered five constructors’ titles from 1992–1997, along with drivers’ titles for F1 legends like Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell.
After moving to McLaren in the late 1990s, Newey designed the cars that drove Mika Hakkinen to title glory in 1998 and 1999. Interestingly, Scottish driver David Coulthard worked with Newey for both these stints at Williams and McLaren, and played a key role in luring Newey to Red Bull in 2006.
At the time, new entrant Red Bull was widely known as the ‘party team’ on the grid. But signing Newey was a clear display of their intent to win.
Transforming Red Bull
After a handful of podium finishes in 2007 and 2008, the rules reset in 2009 saw the Newey Red Bull partnership really bear fruit. Success soon followed, with the team winning four consecutive titles during the Sebastian Vettel era.
The introduction of hybrid power in 2014, prompted Newey to take a step back from his daily F1 duties. “I feel it is time to take on some fresh challenges,” the Brit had said at the time. Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, negotiated a deal that saw him stay with the team in an advisory role, while working on the Aston Martin Valkyrie hypercar.
But Honda’s arrival as Red Bull’s power unit partner in 2019 reignited Newey’s competitive spark. The RB16B brought an end to Mercedes’ dominant run in 2021, handing Red Bull its first title in eight years. Since then, we’ve seen the team break all kinds of records with Max Verstappen at the helm; in fact, last year’s RB19 remains the most successful car in F1’s history.
“His exceptional ability to conceptualise beyond F1 and bring wider inspiration to bear on the design of grand prix cars, his remarkable talent for embracing change and finding the most rewarding areas of the rules to focus on, and his relentless will to win, have helped Red Bull Racing become a greater force than I think even the late Dietrich Mateschitz (Red Bull co-founder) might have imagined,” reflected Horner back when Newey’s split with Red Bull was officially announced.
Parting ways with Red Bull
It is understood that Newey was contracted with Red Bull until the end of 2025. So, what led to his early exit? Reports suggest this was linked to the controversies surrounding misconduct allegations against Horner. The situation also publicly exposed a more deep-rooted power struggle within Red Bull. For all of the accolades he has rightfully earned over the years, Newey has never been particularly fond of the spotlight. So, it’s easy to see why he’d be unhappy with how matters have played out. Of course, this is just speculation, though.
In the months since Newey’s exit was confirmed, Red Bull has shown a worrying decline in form, and is now just eight points ahead of McLaren in the championship. Of course, something like this doesn’t happen overnight and a car isn’t built by one person alone. Red Bull’s technical director Pierre Waché, aero chief Enrico Balbo, chief designer Craig Skinner and head of performance engineering, Ben Waterhouse, all are some of the best in the business.
But what makes Newey stand out, is his wider conceptual thinking. Just take the latest ground-effect cars, for example. Rather than just chasing downforce gains, Newey drove the team to work on a concept that prioritised platform control. And this is what gave Red Bull the upper hand while rivals struggled with porpoising. So, there’s no denying that any team would be ecstatic to have him on board.
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