Why Fernando Alonso might be upset by what Lawrence Stroll just said about Adrian Newey

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Adrian Newey will join Aston Martin in 2025, the team announced on Tuesday. They have won the hotly-contested, prolonged race for his signature.

Newey announced ahead of the Miami Grand Prix at the start of May that he would be leaving Red Bull. Several F1 teams subsequently expressed an interest in signing the legendary designer.

Newey to Ferrari looked ‘done’ before a ‘dramatic’ late turnaround. The Scuderia wouldn’t grant him his biggest demands.

That opened the door for Lawrence Stroll and Aston Martin, who want to compete for titles from 2026. They’re pinning their hopes on the regulation changes in the midst of an underwhelming season.

Aston have failed to score a podium this year and sit in a rather lonely fifth place with 74 points on the board. However, Newey is the latest in a string of headline backroom additions.

He joins former Mercedes engine guru Andy Cowell and Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile at the Silverstone outfit. What’s more, Aston have struck an exclusive engine deal with Honda, currently the suppliers for world champions Red Bull.

Lawrence Stroll says Adrian Newey is a bigger signing than Fernando Alonso

Aston held a press conference on Tuesday morning to announce the arrival of Newey. Stroll declared it the ‘most exciting news’ in the team’s F1 history.

Implicitly, he was calling Newey an even bigger signing than Fernando Alonso, who joined the team in 2023 after his Alpine exit. Alonso is a two-time world champion with 32 race wins and 22 pole positions.

Newey’s cars have won 25 world championships – 13 drivers’ titles and 12 constructors’. That’s why many regard him as the greatest designer in history.

But Alonso could justifiably question Stroll’s remarks. Newey’s talents would be wasted without an elite driver to bring home victories and podiums.

“Certainly the most exciting news in Aston Martin’s Formula 1 history,” Stroll said. “I think probably the most exciting news in Formula 1 in general. As slightly rumoured, Adrian Newey will be joining us as, first and foremost a shareholder, and our technical managing partner of our Formula 1 team.”

How Adrian Newey’s Aston Martin could go wrong

F1’s 2026 rule changes are enormous. Both the engines and the chassis will be overhauled at the same time.

50% of the car’s power output will now come from the battery, while the teams will adopt active aerodynamics. There are fears that F1 could become an engine formula again, just as it was after the introduction of the V6 hybrids in 2014.

Newey will still play a valuable role in that scenario, but his impact would be limited. Red Bull endured a seven-season title drought from 2014 to 2020 as Mercedes dominated.

Peter Windsor has concerns about Newey’s move to Aston Martin in light of the ‘draconian’ rule changes. In what may be the final period of his F1 career, he’ll have to shoulder the ‘political weight’ of working for Lawrence Stroll.