Aston Martin boss admits Adrian Newey has exposed a problem with the team’s other engineers

Follow us on Google Discover

Adrian Newey started work at Aston Martin in March and has been focused solely on designing their 2026 car. Newey is central to Lawrence Stroll’s hopes of becoming a championship contender under the new regulations.

Aston Martin are involved in an intense four-way battle for sixth place in the constructors’ championship, with Racing Bulls only three points ahead and Haas and Sauber both within nine. There must have been a temptation, on that basis, to loop Newey into the 2025 operation.

But the team have stuck to their original plan as they look to maximise their chances for next year. Lawrence Stroll says Newey is his biggest signing, even above two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

Newey has designed 15 different title-winning cars during his career, winning titles at Williams, McLaren and, most recently, Red Bull. He’s almost universally regarded as one of the greatest engineers the sport has ever seen.

Andy Cowell says Aston Martin engineers must adopt Adrian Newey’s mindset

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live’s Chequered Flag podcast, Aston team principal Andy Cowell welcomed the ‘clear focus’ Newey was bringing to the Silverstone outfit. Though he’s revered for his attention to aerodynamic detail, the 66-year-old is all about simplicity.

Indeed, his Aston Martin colleagues were surprised by the emphasis he placed on the fundamentals of engineering. But Cowell says that’s exactly the mindset they should have had already.

He told Jennie Gow: “Chatting to some of the mechanical engineers earlier this week, and they’re saying, ‘Adrian is all about first principles engineering.’

“I look at them and say, ‘Well, shouldn’t we all be about first-principles engineering? Adrian just brings that clear focus on chasing the pinnacle, which is wonderful for all the engineers to experience and is getting the whole business to think that way, where we’re chasing peak performance in record time.

“That’s how you do well in this industry, it’s actually remarkably simple.”

Cowell himself only joined last year before taking control of the team’s day-to-day operations at the start of 2025. He was widely credited with Mercedes’ engine dominance at the start of the turbo/hybrid era, which makes him a particularly important asset as Aston Martin become the de facto Honda works team.

Adrian Newey says Aston Martin are facing the same problem that held Red Bull back

Newey, the managing technical partner, will work with former Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile in what could be a mighty tandem.

Cardile says Newey is uncompromising, and while this perhaps contributed to behind-the-scenes tension at Red Bull, he’s said to be raising standards at Aston Martin, a team who haven’t won a race since their 2021 rebrand.

Newey joined Red Bull shortly after the energy drinks company had taken over from Jaguar. They needed four years before they started challenging for victories.

As he revealed in an interview this week, Newey has a sense of ‘deja-vu’ at Aston Martin, suggesting that the team currently lack belief as the ex-Jaguar Red Bull staff did two decades ago. That’s one of the things that simply must change if they’re to be successful.