SILVERSTONE: Formula 1’s most influential car designer, Adrian Newey, is set to join Aston Martin in March 2025 after leaving Red Bull, putting an end to months of speculation surrounding a backroom figure more in demand than any driver.
Newey has spent nearly two decades with Red Bull and is widely credited with steering the team towards its path of dominance in Formula 1.
Now, he’s joining a team with big ambitions to challenge for the title, backed by billionaire Lawrence Stroll, though they have yet to secure a race win.
Newey will assume his role as "managing technical partner" just in time to shape Aston Martin’s response to the new F1 car regulations coming into effect in 2026. Additionally, he will be made a shareholder in the team.
Newey mentioned that he and Stroll became acquainted while training in the gym during F1 race weekends in Asia.
Newey visited Aston Martin's new headquarters in June, as Stroll closed in on a signing which the Canadian billionaire described as "another demonstration of our ambition to build a Formula 1 team capable of fighting for world championships."
"You have to be honest with yourself, and you have to keep yourself fresh, and so I felt I needed a new challenge," Newey said.
He added that Stroll’s hands-on approach as an owner was an "old-school model" that reminded him of his former bosses at Williams and McLaren, both of which won titles with Newey-designed cars in the 1990s.
"I was very flattered to have a lot of approaches from various teams, but really, Lawrence’s passion and commitment and enthusiasm are very endearing, it's very persuasive."
The last time the regulations underwent a significant change, with the return of "ground effect" aerodynamics in 2022, it was Newey’s Red Bull that dominated as Max Verstappen clinched the championship.
Newey had decades of experience to draw on, having written his university thesis on ground effect in the 1980s, back when it was previously used in F1.
Aston Martin’s drivers are two-time champion Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, son of team owner Lawrence Stroll.
Newey said he’d known Lance Stroll from his teenage years competing against Newey’s son in Formula 3 and mentioned Alonso seemed like "a kind of archenemy at times" when he was challenging for wins against Newey’s previous employers.
Newey joined Red Bull in 2006 and helped the team secure seven drivers' titles – including the last three seasons with Verstappen – and six constructors' titles.
Red Bull announced in May that its chief technical officer would be stepping back from F1 design to focus on the RB17 production car before leaving in the first quarter of 2025.
This announcement comes ahead of this week's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, and at a time when Red Bull's dominance in F1 appears to be waning.
Max Verstappen – who recently described his Red Bull car as a "monster" – and teammate Sergio Perez have not won any of the last six races, marking the team's longest drought since 2020, while McLaren and Mercedes now seem to have faster cars.
Newey's departure is part of a wider exodus of senior Red Bull staff, during a season that began amid legal turmoil after team principal Christian Horner was accused of misconduct by an employee.
Red Bull's parent company dismissed the complaint against Horner, and an appeal was rejected last month.