Aston Martin has confirmed the signing of decorated Formula 1 designer Adrian Newey following his departure from Red Bull Racing.
Newey will join the Silverstone-based outfit on 1 March 2025 after his departure from the Red Bull Technology Group. The Briton has recently shifted his focus from Red Bull’s F1 programme to its RB17 hypercar project that he has been heavily involved in.
Newey’s title will be managing technical partner of Aston Martin F1 team. He will also become a shareholder in the business.
He will join a leadership structure that currently consists of executive chairman Lawrence Stroll, team principal Mike Krack, technical director Dan Fallows and incoming CEO Andy Cowell. Aston Martin also recently signed Ferrari’s technical leader Enrico Cardile in the new role of chief technical officer.
Newey brings to Aston Martin a wealth of experience in F1, having started out with March in the late 1980s. He then moved up the grid, taking at Williams and McLaren, before joining a nascent Red Bull team in 2006. Newey-designed cars during his 19 years at Red Bull achieved seven drivers’ and six constructors’ championship titles, and 188 race wins.
‘It’s the biggest story since the Aston Martin name returned to the sport and another demonstration of our ambition to build a Formula One team capable of fighting for world championships,’ said Stroll. ‘As soon as Adrian became available, we knew we had to make it happen.
‘Our initial conversations confirmed that there was a shared desire to collaborate in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Adrian is a racer and one of the most competitive people I have ever met. When he saw what we have built at Silverstone – our incredible AMR Technology Campus, the talented group of people we have assembled and the latest wind tunnel in the sport – he quickly understood what we are trying to achieve.’
Newey’s signing marks the latest step in a push from Aston Martin to strengthen its technical leadership and push for F1 race wins and titles. The team finished fifth in last season’s constructors’ standings and has struggled to keep up with Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes this year.
Newey said during a press conference that he was ‘flattered’ to have ‘a lot of approaches from various teams’ once his departure from Red Bull became public in May.
‘I felt as if I needed a new challenge,’ he added. ‘Towards the end of April, I decided I needed to do something different. I spent a lot of time with Mandy, my wife, discussing what’s next. Do we go off and sail around the world or do something different – America’s Cup or whatever? So we took a bit of time out.
‘I felt I have been lucky enough to have achieved what I aspired to from the age of 10 or 12, which was simply to be a designer in motor racing. I can honestly say everything else has been a bonus, having achieved that straight out of uni. I never, of course, expected anything like what I’ve been lucky enough to be involved with. You have to be honest with yourself and keep yourself fresh. I felt I needed a new challenge.’
Newey added that discussions with Stroll, and the Aston Martin team’s leadership structure, persuaded him to make his ultimate choice. He was given a tour of the outfit’s new F1 headquarters at Silverstone in June.
‘Lawrence’s passion, commitment and enthusiasm is very endearing and persuasive,’ said Newey. ‘If you go back 20 years, when team principals were owners of the teams… in this modern era, Lawrence is unique in being the only properly active team owner. That’s a different feeling, when you have someone like Lawrence involved like that. It’s an old-school model. To have a chance to be a shareholder and a partner is something that hasn’t been offered to me before. It became a very natural choice.’
