Who is Andy Cowell? Everything you need to know about Aston Martin’s F1 CEO and team principal

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Aston Martin lured Andy Cowell back to F1 as their chief executive officer in 2024 and named him their team principal in 2025 before replacing him with Adrian Newey at the end of the season.

The Silverstone crew reshuffled their leadership in January 2025, with Andy Cowell replacing Mike Krack as the team principal of Aston Martin in their push for a more direct leadership group. Cowell had only joined Aston Martin in October 2024, having agreed to be their CEO in July.

Cowell will be replaced by the team’s managing technical partner, Adrian Newey, in 2026, as part of another leadership shuffle.

Krack’s demotion to the position of chief trackside officer in favour of Cowell overseeing the Formula 1 team came amidst Aston Martin’s recruitment of high-profile figures, with Adrian Newey signing as managing technical partner and Enrico Cardile as chief technical officer.

Aston Martin CEO Andy Cowell replaced Mike Krack as team principal in January 2025

Cowell spent his first three months at Aston Martin in only the role of CEO, assessing their F1 team’s performances and staff. Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll targeted Cowell’s arrival in 2024 after he led Mercedes’ Formula 1 engine division in Brixworth from 2008 until 2020.

Moving also to the role of team principal in January 2025 gave Cowell further oversight over Aston Martin’s aerodynamic, engineering and performance departments. Aston Martin took the team principal role away from Krack after back-to-back seasons where their form fell off.

READ MORE: All to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from their engine to lineage

After their capture of two-time F1 drivers’ champion Fernando Alonso in 2023, Aston Martin earned six podium finishes in the first eight Grand Prix of the season. But they only achieved two more rostrums in the remaining rounds to finish fifth in the constructors’ championship.

Aston Martin lost ground in the 2023 development race to drop away from emerging as Red Bull’s main rival. Developing the car remained an issue as they took fifth place again, yet with 94 rather than 280 points, as Aston Martin failed to bring upgrades that worked during 2024.

Andy Cowell oversaw the creation of Mercedes’ dominant 1.6L V6 engine

Stroll pursued signing Cowell in 2024 to join Aston Martin as the CEO of the Silverstone crew, as he oversaw the creation of Mercedes’ all-conquering 1.6L V6 turbo-hybrid power unit for the 2014 F1 engine regulations. That engine dominated Formula 1 from 2014 through 2021.

Cowell initially joined Mercedes High Performance Powertrains in 2004 while producing the engines McLaren ran and remained there until 2020, during which the Silver Arrows’ engine he helped to develop won seven Formula 1 drivers’ titles and also seven constructors’ titles.

Lewis Hamilton (2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020) and Nico Rosberg (2016) often cruised to glory with Mercedes’ 1.6L V6 turbo-hybrid engine. Max Verstappen and Red Bull curtailed Mercedes’ drivers’ championship success in 2021, but the Silver Arrows took the teams’ title.

Stroll thus signed Cowell in 2024 and tasked the Briton with preparing Aston Martin for the introduction of Formula 1’s 2026 engine and chassis regulations. Aston Martin will also turn into a full works team in 2026 when Honda leave Red Bull to join as a works engine partner.

So, with Cowell previously in the position of CEO and team principal of Aston Martin, F1 Oversteer has taken a deep dive into everything you need to know about the Formula 1 engine expert…

Who is Andy Cowell, previous CEO and team principal of Aston Martin?

Andy Cowell is a legendary Formula 1 engine expert who has been working as the chief executive officer since October 2024 and team principal since January 2025 at Aston Martin. Cowell was then relieved of his duties at the end of 2025, moved into the role of chief strategy officer. He built a big reputation in F1 working for Mercedes High Performance Powertrains from 2008-2020.

Cowell got his first job as an engine engineer with Cosworth straight after graduating with a mechanical engineering degree in 1991. He worked his way up the ranks with Cosworth to specialise in F1 engines, before Cowell joined BMW in 1999 and helped build Williams’ unit.

Cosworth re-hired Cowell in 2000, but he again left in 2004 to join Ilmor, the engine company Mercedes partnered with at the time before taking over fully in 2005. Cowell had the role of principal engineer at Ilmor before he received a promotion to engineering director in 2008.

His time in Brixworth further saw Cowell oversee Mercedes High Performance Powertrains’ development of the KERS unit, which debuted in Formula 1 in 2009. But the success of their 1.6L V6 turbo-hybrid power unit under Cowell’s watch proved to be his biggest legacy in F1.

Cowell developed his passion for Formula 1 from watching the pinnacle of motorsport on TV as a kid with his dad. He also helped his father compete in sprints and in hillclimbing events.

Andy Cowell’s career timeline

• Cosworth Racing: Graduate engineer (1991)
• Cosworth Racing: Project engineer, F1 design and development (1992)
• Cosworth Racing: Senior engineer, F1 design and development (1994)
• Cosworth Racing: Principal engineer, F1 design and development (1997)
• BMW Motorsport: Head of pre-development, F1 (1999)
• Cosworth Racing: Principal engineer, F1 design and development (2000)
• Mercedes-Ilmor: Principal engineer, F1 V10 engine (2004)
• Mercedes High Performance Powertrains: Chief engineer, F1 V8 engine (2005)
• Mercedes HPP: Chief engineer (2006)
• Mercedes HPP: Engineering and programme director (2008)
• Mercedes HPP: Managing director (2013)
• Aston Martin: Chief executive officer (2024)
• Aston Martin: Team principal (2025)
• Aston Martin: Chief strategy officer (2026)

What is Andy Cowell’s age? When was he born?

At the time of writing, Andy Cowell is 55 years old and he was born on February 12, 1969.

Where was Andy Cowell born? What is his nationality?

Andy Cowell is British and he was born in Blackpool, a seaside town in Lancashire, England.

Andy Cowell’s net worth

Thanks to his years of success in Formula 1, Andy Cowell’s net worth is a reported £12m.

What has been said about Andy Cowell? Who has praised him?

Mercedes F1 team principal and CEO Toto Wolff built a huge admiration for Andy Cowell due to the vast success they enjoyed from his tenure as the managing director of Mercedes High Performance Powertrains. Wolff was even fast to praise Cowell after he joined Aston Martin.

“For me, the most important person hired by Aston Martin is Andy Cowell, who comes from our team,” Wolff declared in 2024. “He is a very good manager as CEO, he understands the organisation, the structure, the processes.”

Canadian billionaire and Aston Martin F1 Team owner Lawrence Stroll also gave Cowell his full support after signing the Briton in 2024. He said: “I am delighted to welcome Andy to our team at a crucial time. We are on track to become a world championship-winning team. Andy has my full backing and will have every resource available to win.”