Aston Martin ultimately want to be winning “back-to-back championships” in Formula 1, and if they are to succeed, they must not “stifle” Adrian Newey.

That is the message coming from Aston Martin Group CEO and team principal Andy Cowell, who says they must “harness” the creativity and competitiveness of their F1 design guru.

Aston Martin must not ‘stifle’ Adrian Newey

Newey’s glowing F1 CV sports title success with Williams, McLaren and most recently Red Bull, but it was ahead of the 2024 Miami Grand Prix that he announced his shock departure from Red Bull, his involvement with the F1 team ending there and then as the RB17 hypercar became his final project.

After a great deal of speculation over where Newey would pop back up in F1 – if he did at all – the 66-year-old struck a deal with Aston Martin, one which saw him take only the newly-created managing technical partner role, while he also took on shares in the team.

Newey begins work with Aston Martin at the start of March, with his initial focus being the huge change in chassis and power unit regulations coming for F1 2026.

There has been quite the re-shuffle going on at Aston Martin recently in the senior staff ranks, with Mike Krack going from team principal to chief trackside engineer, while Enrico Cardile arrived from Ferrari as chief technical officer.

Former Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell joined in October, becoming Aston Martin’s new Group CEO and team principal, and in a Sky Sports News interview, he made it clear to his team how they will get the best out of Newey.

Asked if he will make sure Newey has total freedom at Aston Martin, Cowell confirmed: “Absolutely

“Adrian is very competitive, he’s very creative, and as an organisation we need to harness that, not stifle it.

“All the people that operate in the creative area, how do we provide an amazing environment – both personally as you come to work, [and] as you work in the building with other people?

“How do we make sure the tools are top drawer – the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), the wind tunnel, the manufacturing facilities? And therefore I think that’s the thing that inspires creative people.”

Cowell’s comments come after Aston Martin’s two-time World Champion Fernando Alonso described Newey as an uncontrollable figure, that the wish of their ambitious billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll.

“Adrian is going to be a free spirit, you can’t tell him what to do,” Alonso told Spanish media at the F1 75 event. “The day he arrives, if he can give us a hand in 2025, fine. If he wants to work only in 2026, fine too.

“Because then he has clear ideas and doesn’t want to waste a single day. I asked Lawrence about it several times and he always tells me that he doesn’t think we can control him.”

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And ultimately, Aston Martin hope F1 title glory will be the result.

But, just one visit to the F1 mountaintop will not satisfy their vision.

“We’re working exceptionally hard to make the racing car our prime focus, to work together in a collaborative way, a high-performance team,” Cowell continued.

“We believe by working like that we’ll get quicker and quicker. We want to win races, we want to win championships, we would like our drivers to be first and second in the Drivers’ Championship, and we’d love to win back-to-back championships.

“That’s the dream, to have the racing green car to see the chequered flag first, and to do it race after race after race.

“But we’re realistic, we understand that our opponents are exceptionally strong and therefore we need to set tough targets, both in terms of performance and the time that we achieve them, and not leave any gaps, not have any regrets as we go forward.”

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