Adrian Newey made waves by announcing that he would be leaving Red Bull Racing and instead moving to Aston Martin — and according to Pedro de la Rosa, he’s making waves at the team already, too.

Making that all the more impressive is the fact that Newey is solely focused on the F1 2026 machine.

Adrian Newey already a “huge influence” at Aston Martin

Adrian Newey is one of the most legendary Formula 1 designers in the modern era. Not only is he known for his brilliant interpretation of the FIA’s strict regulatory sets, but he’s also an intuitive leader when it comes to imagining the overall structure of a car and what needs to be done to create a competitive machine.

As his legacy has evolved, Newey has come to be known as more of an overall design consultant — someone who can almost instantly understand when, say, the aerodynamic team is being a little too limited in its thinking, or when the suspension team is missing out on the key element that will make the car comfortable to drive.

Those are skills that Aston Martin is in dire need of.

Understanding Adrian Newey at Aston Martin:

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Since joining the team, Newey has had his eyes firmly on the innovative new F1 2026 regulations. He’s finding all the technical loopholes he can exploit, and working with the rest of the future-focused Aston employees in creating a car worthy of a comeback.

That explains why you haven’t seen the team suddenly seeing a significant turnaround in performance in 2025 — but according to Aston Martin team representative Pedro de la Rosa, Newey is already having an impact.

“Adrian has a huge influence not only because he is the most talented aerodynamicist to ever be in Formula 1, but also because having him on the team brings inspiration to others,” de la Rosa told F1sport.auto.cz.

“Everyone wants to work with Adrian and everyone wants to understand how he works.

“Just by being with us, he changes the team internally, which is something that cannot be quantified. It’s not just about the knowledge that Adrian brings, but also the emotional and inspirational side.

“Adrian is a big name to join the team, but he is not the only one. Moreover, we should not underestimate the huge amount of talent we already had in the team.”

Part of Newey’s impressive skill set centers around the ways he works with others — the ways he teaches them to think and work. And if de la Rosa is right, we should begin to see Aston Martin mount a strong turnaround next year.

Read next: Five reasons why Adrian Newey’s big-money Aston Martin move makes sense