Aston Martin have endured a slow start to the new Formula 1 season and Adrian Newey’s expertise is not going to help them find more performance, the team has confirmed
Aston Martin have confirmed that their new car design chief Adrian Newey will spend none of his time working on their current car. The news initially broke as a rumour in the Formula 1 paddock but has now been verified by team principal Andy Cowell.
Newey was snapped up by Aston Martin last year following the celebrated designer’s decision to leave Red Bull. He started work as their new managing technical partner in March and has spent the last six weeks settling into his new surroundings.
Aston Martin have had a slow start to the new season and could do with finding some performance quickly. Their struggles are evidenced by the fact Fernando Alonso has yet to score a single point so far this year.
But Newey is so focused on helping the team to adapt to new engine and design regulations in 2026 that he does not have the time to work on improving their current racing machine. Cowell confirmed that situation as he spoke to reporters at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
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He said: “One hundred percent of Adrian’s designing time is focused on 2026. He joined in March, so there was a period of him getting up to speed with the regulations, up to speed with the concept work that we’ve been doing in the preceding couple of months.
“And there are some tough deadlines to meet for releasing monocoque details and transmission details. So getting a car ready for [the test in January] requires slightly earlier decision points, and clearly everything’s new, there’s zero carryover. So there’s lots of work there and Adrian’s just been focused on that.”
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Newey has some state-of-the-art new facilities to work in these days. That includes a brand new wind tunnel which became operational in March, which will be a welcome change for Newey after working with Red Bull’s old facility which Christian Horner often jokes is “a relic of the Cold War”.
It will help Newey and his colleagues to create a better car, but it remains to be seen how competitive their 2026 effort will be in comparison to the machines designed by their rivals.
Cowell added: “Adrian has been hugely complimentary about the campus and has been positive about the tunnel that we’ve got and the way that everything has been set up.
“He is, of course, pushing for us to improve the way we operate in the tunnel… He’s got thoughts on how to improve pretty much everything, and that’s the great thing about Adrian’s competitive drive.”
