Adrian Newey is the most successful designer in F1 history and he is now leading the creation of Aston Martin’s car for the 2026 regulations after joining them this March.
The Silverstone squad put the most appealing package on the table after Newey announced last May that he had decided to leave Red Bull after a storied 19-year spell in Milton Keynes. He would later sign for Aston Martin in September as their new managing technical partner.
Aston Martin made Newey a 5% shareholder, as well, to seal his signature amid competition from most of the grid. The team’s Canadian billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll went all-out to snap the 66-year-old up, having won 14 drivers’ titles and 12 constructors’ titles in F1 so far.
The 2026 F1 regulations are Newey’s full focus at Aston Martin, too, as Stroll and their CEO-slash-team principal Andy Cowell look to capitalise on his expertise ahead of the major rule reset. F1 will use active aerodynamics for the first time with movable front and rear wings.
Andy Cowell is ‘really keen’ to avoid Aston Martin simply following Adrian Newey’s orders
But while Cowell wants Aston Martin to utilise what Newey has brought to Silverstone after winning titles with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, he does not want their 300-strong team of engineers to only follow the Briton’s orders. Instead, Cowell wants Newey to teach them.
READ MORE: All to know about Aston Martin managing technical partner Adrian Newey
Cowell told Crash. “I guess with everything in life it’s about listening to wise, experienced people and the small snippets of insight, how do you grab hold of those, get to understand the depths around it and then it’s getting 300 engineers to understand and to follow.
“What I’m really keen to do is to make sure that we all learn from Adrian, we don’t just follow instruction.”
Adrian Newey has already identified areas where Aston Martin need to improve
Newey has wasted no time since officially joining Aston Martin as their managing technical partner following a period of gardening leave to identify areas where the Silverstone squad can improve. For example, Newey feels Aston Martin’s simulator has correlation problems.
Additionally, Newey thinks Aston Martin’s aerodynamic department must grow if they want to one day win titles. Since Stroll rebranded Racing Point as Aston Martin ahead of the 2021 F1 season, the Silverstone natives have taken nine podium finishes but have not won a race.
READ MORE: All you need to know about Aston Martin CEO and team principal Andy Cowell
Fernando Alonso has also secured eight of Aston Martin’s podiums since he joined the team from Alpine ahead of the 2023 campaign. He even claimed all eight in 2023, and Alonso only scored his first points of 2025 in the Spanish Grand Prix during round nine of this term’s 24.
Leave feedback about this