Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell lifted the lid on what Adrian Newey has been up to since arriving at the team in March.

And for Newey – the F1 design legend who has contributed to a total of 26 F1 World Championships – there is no longer time to “go to meetings” or “answer emails” as he is only concerned with designing a “fast” Aston Martin – and no one is challenging that approach.

Adrian Newey: Quiet approach to reward Aston Martin?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

It was ahead of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix when the bombshell dropped that Newey was to leave Red Bull, the team he joined in 2006, and with which he added 14 title triumphs to his CV.

Newey’s move to Aston Martin was confirmed last September as he took on the managing technical partner role and became a team shareholder, with his focus very much on helping Aston Martin to nail the new chassis and engine regulations coming for F1 2026.

Newey began work with Aston Martin at the start of March, and team boss Cowell said they have seen him hard at work in his office, but after the initial meetings and settling-in process, direct communication now appears to be minimal, and Aston Martin trust that process.

“He’s a racing car designer. One of the best,” Cowell said of Newey to AS.

“From day one we made sure we prepared his working environment, he came in and went to meetings about the new rules, about the concepts we had worked on. We explained the countdown to the first test and the first race. And we pointed out all the deadlines for submitting information for the production of this [2026] car.

“He went straight to work with engineers to do sketches on his drawing board. He’s in that design cycle to design fundamental parts of the car. Ninety per cent of the creation of a car is in the factory and that’s where we want Adrian.

“He has his office, everyone who walks past says that whenever they see him he’s always drawing on the whiteboard.

“Sure, he doesn’t go to meetings, he doesn’t answer emails, he’s just putting together a fast car – and we all support that process.”

Cowell added that Newey “has been designing the 2026 car since the beginning of March”, but with the legend of F1 car design on the case, and a works engine deal with Honda looming for next year, Cowell was asked how confident he is that Aston Martin can put a competitive car on the 2026 grid.

It has been a challenging start to F1 2025 for the team, with just 10 points scored across the opening five rounds.

“We have to work hard, the targets are complicated. The timescales are complicated,” Cowell responded. “We are pushing, growing, implementing new tools and a very big organisation.

“But we are fighting very hard to have a fast car in 2026.”

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With the Aston Martim ARM25 struggling to establish itself as a regular F1 2025 points scorer, Cowell was asked by media including PlanetF1.com whether there has been any temptation at Aston Martin to ask Newey to get involved with this season’s challenger.

The answer was no.

“One-hundred per cent of Adrian’s designing time is focused on ’26,” said Cowell.

“He joined in March, so there was a period of him getting up to speed with the regulations, up to speed with the concept work that we’ve been doing in the preceding couple of months.

“And there are some tough deadlines to meet for releasing monopod details, transmission details, and the cars are running earlier for the ’26 season.

“The test is at the end of January, so getting a car ready for that point requires a slightly earlier decision point. And clearly, everything’s new. There’s zero carryover. So there’s lots of work there, and Adrian has just been focused on that.”

Cowell concluded: “He’s focused largely on the tools that we’re using, rather than any direct performance aspect for the ’25 car.”

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