Aston Martin has won the race to sign legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey, a move that could have big implications.
Newey, widely considered to be the greatest engineer in F1 history having designed 14 championship-winning cars over the past 32 years, will join Aston Martin in March 2025, formally ending his 19-year tenure at Red Bull.
Given that success in F1 is ultimately determined by the car rather than the driver, this move is arguably more significant than any other driver switch, including a shock move like Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes to Ferrari.
Aston Martin sits fifth in the constructors’ championship heading into the final stages of a disappointing season, but Newey’s arrival only boosts their hopes of competing for the title when new rules are introduced for the 2026 season.
Ahead of Tuesday’s announcement, Newey will be announced at an 11am press conference when he will join Aston Martin. Sky Sports F1 We’ll assess whether he’s the final piece of the puzzle in the Silverstone-based team’s quest for glory.
Why is Newey so special?
All of F1’s top teams were thought to have some interest in signing Newey after Red Bull announced in May this year that he would leave the team at the start of 2025 and cease development of their 2024 car with immediate effect.
Despite rumours of interest from McLaren and Mercedes, Ferrari and Aston Martin were the only serious contenders, and Newey finally made his decision in the late summer.
Newey has loved designing race cars since he was a child, and even today he plans all of his F1 car designs on the drawing board.
Although technological advances have led most engineers to use CAD (computer-aided design) systems, Newey still picks up his pencil and draws.
The ability to imagine the airflow created by an incredibly complex F1 car and maximise downforce is something that can never be taught.
“He lives in the Matrix,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said in 2022.
“He’s been the conductor of the technical orchestra all these years. He’s still very hands-on and he still draws the blueprints – probably the only ones in F1. He had to have discussions with Ron Dennis to get it out of McLaren.”
“Obviously, there have been good and bad times over the years, but it’s always been fun. It’s always been about racing.”
Newey’s departure from the Red Bull F1 team at the start of May coincided with the fact that the race has suddenly seen the world champion in hot pursuit, with just three wins in 11 races since the announcement.
Red Bull appears to be on the wrong development path and some in the paddock are wondering whether Newey’s absence was a major factor.
Use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was unable to contain his frustration with the team, finishing sixth in Italy.
“These issues were already there and should have occurred. The intervention of one person cannot have such drastic consequences so quickly,” Horner said after the Italian Grand Prix earlier this month.
“This started to become evident in Miami. Adrian was working until Friday in Miami so it couldn’t have been affected so quickly.”
“We work with the same people. F1 is a team sport, this is a team problem and the team will find a solution.”
Success through regulatory change
Newey has been designing championship-winning cars since 1992 and built some of the greatest cars in F1 history during his time with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull.
Of his many strengths, perhaps his greatest is when it comes to rule changes and, given the new rules coming into force in 2026, Aston Martin will be thrilled and delighted.
Use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
“The brain is like a muscle and it needs exercise”, Adrian Newey has said, revealing why he is likely to return to Formula 1 after leaving Red Bull.
In 1998 F1 moved to narrower cars and McLaren won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles, while Mika Hakkinen became double World Champion in 1999.
Fast forward to 2009, Newey had navigated a major rule change and Red Bull was suddenly front-runners for the first time, and would likely have been champion that year had it not been for Brawn’s ingenious double diffuser.
Instead, Sebastian Vettel waited a season and won four consecutive titles from 2010 to 2013, with Red Bull also winning the constructors’ championship that year.
Use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Ted Kravitz on Adrian Newey’s ‘genius’
More recently, ground effect cars have returned in 2022, with Red Bull once again reigning supreme and Max Verstappen demonstrating unprecedented dominance.
Verstappen won a record-breaking 15 races in 2022, then followed that up with an astounding 19 wins in 2023, including a record 10 in a row.
In other years with big rule changes, Newey has continued to build good cars capable of winning races, and while having Newey there is no guarantee that the team will at least fight to win, history suggests they have a very good chance of competing at the front.
Build your dream team
Newey is not the first big technical signing Lawrence Stroll has made since rebranding the Racing Point team he bought as Aston Martin for 2021.
Technical director Dan Fallows will join the team from Red Bull in 2022, reuniting with Newey. Fallows ran Red Bull’s aerodynamics team during the team’s dominance from 2010 to 2013 and will be comfortable working with Newey again.
Use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Natalie Pinkham spoke about the popularity of engineer Adrian Newey after he announced his departure from Red Bull.
Aston Martin has also snapped up Enrico Cardile from Ferrari as its chief technical officer for 2025. Cardile’s previous role as aerodynamicist at Ferrari will see him bring additional expertise to the Silverstone factory.
Another recent high-profile appointment is that former Mercedes engine guru Andy Cowell will become chief executive, succeeding Martin Whitmarsh, who retires in October.
Cowell was instrumental to Mercedes’ success at the start of F1’s turbo-hybrid era in 2014, leading the design of the engine that enabled the Silver Arrows to win eight consecutive constructors’ titles.
There’s no point building a great car if you don’t have an elite driver to extract the best performance from it, and Aston Martin has just that driver in place since signing Fernando Alonso for the start of 2023.
Use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
F1 drivers pay tribute to Adrian Newey following news of his departure from Red Bull
The Spaniard signed a two-year contract extension with the team in April, keeping him with the team until the end of the 2026 season, and will be hoping he has a real chance to add to the two drivers’ titles he won in 2005 and 2006.
The weakest link in Aston Martin’s 2026 setup is arguably Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll, who is expected to stay with the team unconditionally as long as his father remains the owner.
If Aston were to produce a car capable of competing for the title in 2026, you would no doubt expect some of the sport’s other elite drivers to explore, through their representatives, the possibility of racing in 2027.
Eyes on Aston Martin heading into 2026
Aston Martin has fallen back from the leading pack after a promising 2023 in which Fernando Alonso achieved eight podiums and finished fourth in the drivers’ standings.
But behind the scenes, Aston Martin has opened a new factory and wind tunnel at its state-of-the-art Silverstone base.
“This system allows us to do a lot more of our own testing, the way we want to, and gives us a lot more flexibility than we have at the moment,” Mr Fallows said. “There have been lots of examples of things we’ve wanted to do but haven’t been able to do. There’s a reason we spend millions of pounds on these things.”
Use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Fernando Alonso has previously expressed excitement at the possibility of Newey joining Aston Martin.
From 2026, Aston Martin will be the only team to run power units provided by Honda, the Japanese manufacturer that has supplied engines to Red Bull in their recent dominating form.
Honda returned to F1 in 2015 as an engine manufacturer affiliated with McLaren and had a nightmarish experience with frequent reliability issues and a major drop in performance, but partnered with Red Bull in 2019 and has been on the rise since.
A thrilling 2021 season has shown that Honda has the strongest power unit alongside Mercedes, which has certainly given Verstappen an advantage in the title battle with Lewis Hamilton.
Red Bull is by far the leader in straight-line speed early in 2023 and remains at the top of the list when it comes to top speed.
Use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Bernie Collins spoke on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast about how Fernando Alonso’s influence will help Aston Martin’s development in 2026 after he signed a new contract.
“[There have been] “As you can imagine, we’ve been having a lot of meetings with Honda, both face-to-face and online, looking ahead to 2026,” Aston Martin performance director Tom McCullough said. “They’re very involved with our team now, and we’re undertaking a huge amount of work, a lot of changes.”
“The company and team have grown and we’re excited for 2026. We still have a lot of years left to focus on this year and next.”
Ultimately, it will be the opening race of the 2026 season that will reveal whether Aston Martin’s dream team has achieved its goal, but expectations have risen dramatically.
This weekend, F1 leaves mainland Europe for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, broadcast live on Sky Sports F1. Stream every F1 race and more with a NOW Sports Month Membership – No contract, cancel anytime
