Peter Windsor highlights fears that Adrian Newey and Aston Martin partnership ‘could go wrong’

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Adrian Newey’s next team is set to be Aston Martin after nearly two decades at the helm of Red Bull’s technical operations.

After title success at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, culminating in 13 Constructors’ and 12 Drivers’ World Championships, Adrian Newey is now looking to add to that with his new venture with billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll.

Aston Martin is reportedly paying him £30m-a-year to bring title success to the team, which is worth more than 15 drivers on the current F1 grid including Lando Norris.

It comes after Stroll invested millions in a state-of-the-art factory that is meant to be the ‘most modern’ on the current grid. At the same time, Newey will also finally work with his dream driver Fernando Alonso whose contract was renewed through 2026.

While it seems teed up to be one of the most formidable partnerships heading into the new 2026 F1 regulations, Peter Windsor has warned that it could backfire when speaking on the Cameron Cc podcast.

F1 2026 Regulations could be ‘too draconian’ for Adrian Newey

Newey has always been one of the key figures in F1 who has been able to exploit an early advantage in the regulations, but equally, he has criticised them for being too constraining.

F1 cars will adopt active aerodynamics for 2026, although much of how this will work is still yet to be finalised before teams can work on the cars in January next year.

Windsor thinks the regulations will play a key part in whether Newey will be successful at Aston Martin, and has warned that it could be quite political.

“The only thing that could go wrong there is that the regulations for 2026 may be so draconian that there is less Adrian Newey can do with them in any other era of F1. The other is, he’s not 34 he’s in the backstages of his life and whether it’s the same Adrian remains to be seen,” said Windsor.

“There is a certain political weight in working for the Stroll’s and how much Adrian will enjoy that remains to be seen. Fernando will bring a smile to his face, but you can only do that for so long.”

Lawrence Stroll builds F1 title juggernaut

With both Newey and Alonso onboard for the 2026 season, there is also a lot of anticipation over Aston Martin’s partnership with Honda.

The team will switch to Honda power from 2026 having used Mercedes engines since they rebranded from Racing Point in 2021.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Former Mercedes High Performance Powertrains boss Andy Cowell was signed as the teams Group CEO, replacing Martin Whitmarsh earlier this year.

Stroll believes signing Cowell will be key to his ambitions of bringing title success to Aston Martin, after being a key member of Mercedes engine division that saw them develop the most successful V6 power unit of the hybrid-turbo era.