Aston Martin Team Principal and CEO Andy Cowell has revealed the priorities of Adrian Newey in his first month with the team.
The blockbuster move of design genius Adrian Newey from Red Bull to Aston Martin became reality in March, when Newey started work for Silverstone marque. His work, shrouded in secrecy, is the topic of rife speculation. Coupled with Aston Martin’s dismal start to 2025, rumours swirl that Newey is working on rescuing the team’s season.
However, speaking on Media Day for the F1 Saudi Arabian GP, Cowell said Newey’s focus remains on the 2026 technical regulation overhaul.
“Adrian’s designing time is focused on 26. 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, transmission details. And the cars are running earlier for the 26 season. The test is at the end of January.
“So getting a car ready for that point 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.”
Will Adrian Newey have any impact on 2025 Aston Martin?
Cowell then gave a coy answer when asked a follow up question on if Newey could input into improving the current car concept.
“There’s value in Adrian understanding the tools that we’ve got, the fidelity of those tools, the precision with which they predict what’s going to happen on the racetrack,” said Cowell.
The Aston Martin Team Principal and CEO also said that Newey will play a vital role in unlocking performance within the team and departments, a reason behind Aston Martin’s current slump.
“I think Adrian’s got a huge amount of experience and experience in the art of a racing car which is made up of many systems.
“Whether it’s aerodynamics, kinematics of the suspension, ease of adjustability in a racetrack environment and also the quality that you should aspire to with regards to aerodynamic surfaces and the robustness of aerodynamic surfaces through a race weekend environment.”
New facilities crucial to Adrian Newey progress
Cowell also spoke of Newey’s reaction to Aston Martin’s new wind tunnel, and his suggestion for operational improvements.
“Adrian’s hugely complimentary about the campus and has been positive about the tunnel that we’ve got and the way that everything’s been set up.
“He is of course pushing for us to improve the way we operate in the tunnel, the way we operate with CFD, the way we operate with lap simulations. So pretty much everything.
“Adrian’s got thoughts on how to improve and that’s the great thing of Adrian’s competitive drive and he balances it up very well in terms of that bit’s fine, it’s this bit that we need to work on.“
