Lance Stroll has done something he never does at Aston Martin as Adrian Newey arrives for Monaco Grand Prix

Adrian Newey is making his first appearance on the Aston Martin pit wall at the Monaco Grand Prix this weekend. Newey was announced as the team’s managing technical partner back in September.

The legendary designer started work at Aston Martin at the beginning of March, but it’s taken until round eight of the season for him to travel to a race. Newey’s primary focus is on the 2026 car.

Team owner Lawrence Stroll has long been prioritising the major regulation changes, sensing an opportunity to turn his team into winners. Newey sits at the centre of his big-spending masterplan.

The Silverstone outfit are enduring intense short-term pain, though. They have just 14 points on board this year, all courtesy of Lance Stroll, and sit seventh in the constructors’.

At this stage last year, Aston were fifth on 44 points. The team’s upgrades brought them to life in Imola qualifying as Fernando Alonso qualified fifth and Stroll eighth, but they slipped out of the top 10 during the race.

Lance Stroll looks more enthusiastic than ever as Adrian Newey makes Aston Martin debut

One of the criticisms levelled at Stroll over the years has been an apparent lack of engagement. Critics have questioned whether he can be fully committed when his father is protecting his seat.

For instance, Stroll didn’t even know about the two-stop rule being introduced for this year’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Meanwhile, observers said it looked like Stroll was ‘falling asleep’ at the F1 75 launch event in London in February. Former Haas boss Guenther Steiner has questioned whether Stroll wants to be in F1 at all.

But according to Motorsport.com, his enthusiasm was ‘palpable’ when he discussed Newey’s arrival on Thursday. Normally, his demeanour in his media appearances is ‘placid’, so this was a ‘rarity’.

For the first time in his F1 career, Stroll could conceivably be driving a contending car this year. The prospect of working with a legend like Newey has led him to display a newfound passion.

What Adrian Newey has already done behind closed doors before Monaco Grand Prix

A report over the winter claimed Newey doesn’t think Stroll is ‘good enough’. While the Canadian has scored all of his team’s points, Alonso is 12-2 up when both drivers are classified.

Having spoken to him personally, though, Ralf Schumacher says Newey has been positively surprised by Stroll. He’s impressed by the 26-year-old’s ‘way of working’.

While 2026 is clearly his overriding focus, there’s talk that Newey has had an impact on the 2025 Aston Martin. Ted Kravitz has heard that he’s offered his colleagues advice over lunch at the factory.

Newey played a role in eight drivers’ championships at Red Bull and has also designed title-winning cars at Williams and McLaren.