Fernando Alonso says ‘magic’ Adrian Newey will bring ‘priceless’ skill to Aston Martin next year

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Adrian Newey joining Aston Martin is set to be one of the biggest stories of the 2025 season, as the legendary design becomes the final piece in billionaire Lawrence Stroll’s puzzle.

It’s no secret that Stroll harbours ambitions for his team to become future World Champions in Formula 1, having invested heavily in the last three years in new facilities including a wind tunnel.

Aston Martin’s new factory buildings are said to be the ‘most modern’ on the grid, which will be used as the main wind tunnel facility and gearbox testing which they will build themselves from 2026.

Newey’s signature was highly sought after when he entered the market, mainly due to his ability to win championships by exploiting loopholes in a new regulation set.

Fernando Alonso, who extended his contract with Aston Martin earlier this year through 2026, believes Newey will bring a ‘priceless’ skill when speaking on the Beyond the Grid podcast.

Adrian Newey’s knowledge on motor racing to be key asset for Aston Martin

Newey was one of the masterminds of Red Bull’s success in the last 18 years, having produced one of the most successful F1 cars of all time in the RB19.

Sergio Perez said Newey’s influence on Red Bull will be missed on race weekend, as it went beyond just designing the cars. Alonso believes this knowledge base will be key to Aston Martin’s success.

“Listening to him, the knowledge he [Newey] has on motor racing is enough to make a difference in any organisation,” said Alonso.

“He can see things on the first look that it would take one month for a group of very clever people to spot and this is priceless in F1 because the race is next week. We don’t have one year to analyse a thing, so I think that magic will be very good to witness.”

Adrian Newey will be excited to work with one ‘genius’ at Aston Martin

Stroll is reportedly paying Newey up to £30m-a-year while making him a shareholder within the team, which is said to be one of the deciding factors for him to join Aston Martin over Ferrari.

One of the other key signings Aston Martin made to their backroom staff was former Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains boss Andy Cowell.

Cowell was responsible for leading the team that produced one of the most successful hybrid F1 power units, which brought Mercedes several years of title success.

Eddie Jordan, who manages Newey, said the designer is ‘excited’ to work with Cowell as Aston Martin switches to Honda power units for 2026.