Red Bull’s Adrian Newey To Join Aston Martin

For some time there have been persistent rumours within the Formula 1 world about where Red Bull’s departing technical guru, Adrian Newey, might continue his career, and this morning it was officially confirmed that the Aston Martin F1 team will be his new employer with effect from 1st March next year.

I’d received an invitation from the Silverstone-based Aston Martin outfit, which is owned and led by the highly ambitious Canadian billionaire, Lawrence Stroll, to an 11am press conference today at its impressive AMR Technology Campus. While the subject matter remained undisclosed, it was evident that the event would involve a formal announcement about Newey's impending arrival. Widely regarded as the greatest car designer in Formula 1 history, the 65-year-old's severance contract from Red Bull, after 18 highly successful years, reportedly included a clause prohibiting any revelation about a new employer until this month, followed by a half-year gardening leave period. Examples of the latter have always been popular as teams seek to stop departing employees from taking confidential information to their new employers, but, with remote working commonplace these days, this may be less effective than in the past. Ferrari had been the initial frontrunner to acquire his services, but it seems it dropped out after not wanting to become involved in an increasingly expensive bidding war with Aston Martin.

Newey has been instrumental in helping Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull to 12 Drivers’ and 13 Constructors’ F1 titles, and Stroll has identified him as a vital component in his attempts to make Aston Martin a genuine challenger to F1’s current frontrunners. The team has been heavily investing in state-of-the-art facilities at its HQ, including the newest wind tunnel in Formula 1, which should be operational by early next year at the latest. In June, they gave Newey a private tour of their campus. This was a factor that helped him, together with his wife, Mandy, decide to join the outfit rather than simply retire. He quipped today that his wife was perhaps keen that he didn’t get under her feet at home! Stroll said today that nothing of value in life is cheap and Newey is expected to earn up to £30m a year. His new job title is Technical Managing Partner, and he will also be a shareholder in the business. He stated today that he saw Aston Martin as "a fresh challenge and stimulation" and added that "my prime motivation is to add performance to the car, with Formula 1 being the ultimate test of man and machine."

His initial aim will be to help make the team’s 2025 car more competitive, but his primary focus will be on the 2026 car, following the introduction of the new technical regulations and the arrival of Honda as the power unit partner. Before then, he and his wife intend to take a break before getting back to work in earnest, with effect from next March. He will surely make a major impact at Aston Martin, but it may take a little time, and this may or may not help the veteran driver, Fernando Alonso, achieve more success before he retires. The Spaniard and his teammate, Lance Stroll, who is the son of Lawrence Stroll, both contributed to today’s presentation at Silverstone before heading to Azerbaijan for this weekend’s Grand Prix around the streets of Baku.