Ted Kravitz saw Aston Martin staff show their ‘instant respect’ for Adrian Newey at the Qatar Grand Prix

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Adrian Newey hasn’t even taken up the role of team principal at Aston Martin yet, but Ted Kravitz has already seen the effect that the recent news of his promotion has had on staff within the racing outfit.

Aston Martin’s announcement that Adrian Newey would assume the role of team principal ahead of the 2026 season marked the fourth time in four years that leadership at the British constructor has changed hands.

However, the appointment of Newey is one that has raised a lot of eyebrows.

The 66-year-old aerodynamicist is the most successful designer in the history of Formula 1, and he is arguably the main reason why Aston Martin are tipped to be a frontrunner next season.

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Mika Hakkinen’s comments on Newey’s addition to McLaren in the mid-1990s speak volumes about the impact that the design genius can have on an F1 team.

Despite going on to win two world titles in the sport, the Flying Finn still pinpoints McLaren’s signing of Newey as the happiest moment in his professional driving career.

• READ MORE: Sebastian Vettel delivers his 2026 Aston Martin verdict as Adrian Newey is appointed team principal

Ted Kravitz shares how Aston Martin staff showed Adrian Newey ‘instant respect’ at the Qatar Grand Prix

During Sky Sports F1’s live coverage of FP1 at the Qatar Grand Prix, pitlane reporter Ted Kravitz shared a moment that he had witnessed within the Aston Martin garage at the start of the proceedings in Lusail.

He said (28/11 14:07), “While the car was out of the pits for the show and tell, Adrian gathered all the team together.

“I watched the little meeting that they had with the mechanics, and he addressed the boys and girls on the garage floor, and it was very, very well received.

“I just think with someone like Adrian, with his huge experience and his instant respect from everybody, and his gravitas, his know-how, that it was never really gonna be badly received.

“Looking at the response he got, I think it’s a real boost to everyone working in that garage.”

The 66-year-old hasn’t been short of receiving plaudits from Aston Martin employees since he joined the Silverstone-based team at the beginning of the year.

Fernando Alonso has sung Newey’s praises on several occasions.

It’s the first time in the 44-year-old’s career that he has worked with the design genius, and Alonso is hoping that he will be the man to finally deliver him a car worthy of clinching him a third world title.

• READ MORE: Aston Martin must unlock Adrian Newey’s overlooked hidden talent as team principal in 2026

Karun Chandhok expects Adrian Newey to show a different management style to Christian Horner’s at Red Bull

Former F1 driver Karun Chandhok also gave his opinion on Newey’s new role at the Formula 1 outfit, highlighting the difference in management style that he expects the 66-year-old to utilise at Aston Martin in reference to Christian Horner’s former way of working at Red Bull.

He said, “I think we’ll see him perform the team principal role in a different way than a Toto Wolff or a Christian Horner did at Red Bull, because they’re non-technical people.

“I don’t expect to see him doing 24 Grands Prix, standing in the fan zones and doing the media interviews.

“If you talk to people at Red Bull, they often talk about how he would be at the racetrack, buried in the computer, looking at CFD numbers, looking at all these sorts of things.

“And then look up and look at the run plan. He loves motor racing; he is a racer at heart. He’s gone through his career, having been a race engineer, so he’s done different parts of the sport.

“And I think over a 40-year period, he’s seen different aspects of a race team, and maybe now he’s felt this is the time where he can put all of that broad knowledge to use, while still having direct oversight over the key part, which is how to design a car that goes faster.”