Adrian Newey’s wife has quipped that she will be reunited with the F1 design guru in “about five years” after he started work with Aston Martin this week.

As revealed by PlanetF1.com in January, Newey officially began work with Aston Martin on Monday March 3 following his high-profile move from Red Bull last year.

Adrian Newey starts work at Aston Martin

Newey has joined Aston Martin in the newly created role of managing technical partner, as well as becoming a shareholder in the F1 team.

The 66-year-old is set to work closely with Aston Martin’s soon-to-be engine suppliers Honda, fuel partner Aramco and lubricrants provider Valvoline – all of whom signed a technical collaboration agreement last year – ahead of the major F1 2026 rule changes.

Newey stands as the most decorated individual in F1 history with involvement in more than 200 race wins and a combined 26 Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships for Red Bull, McLaren and Williams.

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Aston Martin released the first official photograph of Newey at the team’s state-of-the-art factory at Silverstone on Thursday (top).

The image showed Newey smiling with Aston Martin’s Group CEO and team principal Andy Cowell, with the pair stood beside a drawing board – famously Newey’s preferred working method – bearing a sketch of the car brand’s logo.

Reacting to the photograph on social media, Newey’s wife Amanda has joked that she is set to see very little of her husband over the next five years.

Mrs Newey wrote: “I can’t wait to see you again, dear husband! Let’s catch up in about five years time.”

The post was accompanied by a mix of light-hearted emojis.

Newey’s switch to Aston Martin marks his first team switch in almost two decades, with his previous transfer occurring when he swapped McLaren for Red Bull in 2006.

Newey played an instrumental role in Red Bull’s emergence as a leading force in F1, masterminding the team’s success with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.

Newey links up with Aston Martin following the end of his involvement with the Red Bull F1 team last year, with the 66-year-old working exclusively on the RB17 hypercar project in the second half of 2024.

Under the terms of his Red Bull departure, negotiated by his manager and former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan, Newey has sidestepped the extended period of gardening leave commonplace in F1 staff contracts, allowing him to be heavily involved in Aston Martin’s preparations for the new era of F1 in 2026.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at last month’s F1 75 event, Cowell lifted the lid on the team’s excitement about welcoming a figure of Newey’s stature.

He said: “The organisation changes we made were really to make the existing organisation more efficient.

“Flatter organisations are naturally more efficient. There are less reporting lines, communication is quicker. There tend to be less reports written, less meetings, and so progress is made quicker.

“I guess some of that was with a view to Adrian coming, but most of it was just to improve the efficiency of our business.

“Everybody on site is excited at the thought of working with him, so when he arrives there is a new office that’s large enough for a drawing board to go in. That’s in place.

“We’re just excited to have Adrian on board, to work on the creativity of our race cars, to work on our methods, the tools that we use and how are we all going to lift our quality standards to the point that we make the fastest race car every year. That’s our objective.

“Last year, 248 new people joined Aston Martin Formula 1 team and it’s those people and all the existing people that together, working as a team, will create this great race car.

“And individuals like Adrian have got a great insight into the total car, but it’s all of us working together that will deliver a great car.”

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