With rumours having swirled for months now, today it has been confirmed that Adrian Newey will join the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team from next year. His tenure as Managing Technical Partner - the new position makes him a shareholder also - will begin on March 1st 2025. Perfect time, then, to get cracking on a car for the new 2026 regulations.
The news was announced in the fantastic new AMR Technology Campus at Silverstone, Lawrence Stroll evidently pleased as punch to have secured that most coveted of signatures. “I’ve been in business more than 40 years and I’ve never been more sure” was his response in the Q&A when asked about acquiring Newey for his team (and what that might have cost - nothing further was divulged, although BBC Sport reckons it might be as much as £30m.)
He added: “As soon as Adrian became available, we knew we had to make it happen. Our initial conversations confirmed that there was a shared desire to collaborate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Adrian is a racer and one of the most competitive people I have ever met. When he saw what we have built at Silverstone – our incredible AMR Technology Campus, the talented group of people we have assembled and the latest wind tunnel in the sport – he quickly understood what we are trying to achieve. We mean business – and so does he. Adrian shares our hunger and ambition, he believes in this project, and he will help us write the next chapter in Aston Martin Aramco’s Formula One story.”
As for the man himself, Newey suggested it was over the Suzuka weekend in early April that the decision was made to leave Red Bull, after which time he was approached by plenty of teams. It’s not often an engineer of his calibre makes a change, after all. Having spoken with a few, and pondered an extended period of time off, Newey opted for Aston. “I still love the challenge of adding performance to a racing car”, he said today, keen to get going and find ways to turn Aston’s fortunes around. While that work will begin next season, the focus will understandably be on the new regulations coming for 2026, with new requirements to work with and a Honda power unit in the middle.
Newey said of his move: “I am thrilled to be joining the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One® Team. I have been hugely inspired and impressed by the passion and commitment that Lawrence brings to everything he is involved with. Lawrence is determined to create a world-beating team. He is the only majority team owner who is actively engaged in the sport… Together with great partners like Honda and Aramco, they have all the key pieces of infrastructure needed to make Aston Martin a world championship-winning team and I am very much looking forward to helping reach that goal.”
Without wishing to get too carried away in the excitement, it’s clear that Newey still has that drive and determination to make successful F1 cars. With such a big reset for the sport coming so soon, it’s a great opportunity for Newey and his engineering team to prove what they’re capable of - and for Stroll’s recruitment decision to pay off. Both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso were in attendance at Silverstone today as well, the latter adding that “we all had to raise the bar thanks to him” when discussing racing against Newey and his cars in the past. That’s the sort of reputation he’s forged for himself over the past four decades - no doubt Alonso will be thrilled to have Newey on the same team now, as will the rest of Aston Aramco F1. The next two seasons won’t be able to come soon enough for any of them.
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