Adrian Newey is halfway through his third month of work at Aston Martin. But it won’t be until next year that he has a genuine chance to prove his worth.
Aston’s results have improved lately, with Fernando Alonso scoring eight points at the last two races after failing to notch any in the first eight. He’s also made four consecutive Q3 appearances, three of them ending in the top six.
This is likely to be a coincidence. While Newey is giving advice to Aston Martin engineers, his primary focus is the 2026 car – an almost entirely new project under heavily revised regulations.
Newey’s arrival, the headline coup in a dazzling spending spree from Lawrence Stroll, gives Alonso hope of winning another title, or indeed another race, before he retires. The Spaniard will turn 44 next month.
Aston Martin colleagues are astonished by Adrian Newey designs, Nico Rosberg says
Speaking on the Sky F1 podcast, Nico Rosberg revealed what he’d heard about Newey’s initial contribution at Aston Martin. He’s been studying next year’s rulebook in depth to try and find loopholes.
Newey is a somewhat anachronistic presence in a highly advanced sport, preferring to work with a pencil rather than harnessing ‘teraflops’ of computing power. But Rosberg says his sketches have left colleagues open-mouthed.
Aston Martin beat Ferrari to the signature of Newey and offered him shares in the team. He handed in his notice at Red Bull just over a year ago after two decades at Milton Keynes.
“Adrian is still the best of all time as a car designer, and he’s hit the ground running,” Rosberg said. “I hear stories of him being on his drawing board and all the Aston aerodynamicists with their mouths open following him drawing with his pencils, which is incredible.
“They have all their computers open with teraflops of power and data, and he’s at the front just drawing! That’s unbelievable.”
Adrian Newey and Aston Martin learn Max Verstappen decision for 2026
Alonso says Aston Martin meetings have changed since Newey joined, with staff now under pressure to make more valuable contributions. He appeared on the pit wall for the first time in Monaco.
There have been some suggestions that Alonso’s seat could be at risk – despite his contract – amid Aston’s pursuit of Max Verstappen. Lance Stroll is protected by his father owning the team.
However, Verstappen ‘definitely’ won’t join Aston Martin for 2026, according to a high-profile Dutch journalist. He’ll naturally want to see whether they live up to the hype under the new rules first.
The Silverstone outfit have never won a Formula 1 race, but they have scored nine podiums.
Leave feedback about this