Adrian Newey was spotted by PlanetF1.com taking a close look at the F1 2025 championship-leading McLaren MCL39 on the grid at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Newey made his first trackside appearance with Aston Martin in Monaco last weekend, marking his first visit to a race since his high-profile move from Red Bull last year.

Adrian Newey inspects McLaren MCL39 at Monaco GP

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The 66-year-old officially linked up with his new team at the start of March, less than two weeks before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, with Newey appointed to the newly created role of managing technical partner as well as becoming a team shareholder.

Newey, the most decorated individual in F1 history with involvement in more than 200 race wins and a combined 26 Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles, has been leading development of Aston Martin’s first car under the new F1 2026 regulations.

His trip to Monte Carlo gave Newey the opportunity to observe how Aston Martin operate on race weekends, having got up to speed with the team’s existing processes at their Silverstone factory over recent months.

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Newey is renowned for going on the prowl with his trusty notebook in hand on the starting grid ahead of each race, taking the opportunity to assess the designs of rival teams.

And PlanetF1.com’s on-the-ground reporter Thomas Maher spotted the moment the McLaren MCL39 of Oscar Piastri caught Newey’s attention (below) ahead of the race in Monaco, with the Aston Martin man studying the car intently.

Newey was later spotted in conversation with Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, with whom he worked closely during his near two-decade stint at Milton Keynes.

Horner had quipped earlier in the Monaco GP weekend that he was struggling to adjust to the sight of Newey in green Aston Martin uniform, likening the F1 genius to “a giant bogey.”

The McLaren MCL39 has caught the attention of many F1 tech experts over recent weeks, having claimed six victories in eight races at the start of the F1 2025 season.

The car was found to be in total compliance with the F1 2025 technical regulations after governing body the FIA performed an ‘extensive’ post-race inspection at the Miami Grand Prix earlier this month.

In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com on the eve of the Monaco Grand Prix, McLaren chief executive Zak Brown insisted that the team remain unconcerned by suggestions from rival teams that technical trickery is at play with the MCL39.

He told PlanetF1.com’s Mat Coch: “It doesn’t faze us.

“They can keep looking; there’s nothing to find other than the men and women and McLaren developed a really good race car. They’ve done a great job.

“There’s no silver bullet somewhere in the race car.

“But if teams think there are, and that where they want to spend their timing looking for it, hey, the more time they want to spend trying to find something that’s not there versus developing their own car, quite frankly, is a good use of their time as far as we’re concerned!

“It’s great people want to spend their time trying to find a ghost.

“We’ve always found it better to focus on your own team.”

Read next: Adrian Newey’s to-do list: The five most important Aston Martin tasks