Enter the King: What to Expect from Adrian Newey’s Aston Martin

Last year, a team swap sent shockwaves throughout the Formula One community. A legend not only with the sport but with his team was to leave at the end of the 2024 season, closing a chapter of his already illustrious career. That move, of course, was that of Adrian Newey, former chief technology officer at Oracle Red Bull Racing. Now, at the dawn of a new Formula One season, Newey will not be wearing his signature navy, but the racing green of Aston Martin. The question remains, though, what will Newey bring to the young British team?

Newey, 66, began his official position as managing technical partner at Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team on Monday, but little comment has come from the iconic engineer. It has already been established that because of the timing of his arrival at Aston Martin, Newey is unlikely to have much influence over the AMR25 before the lights go out in Melbourne. However, alongside newly-hired chief technical officer Enrico Cardile, who is coming from Ferrari, Newey aims to push Aston Martin back up to the podium throughout 2025, especially starting in 2026. Beginning next year’s development early is crucial, especially given the incoming regulation changes, but what does that leave Newey and Aston Martin with this season?

As managing technical partner, Newey will not be in charge of race-to-race operations and upgrades to this year’s Aston Martin challenger. Instead, according to PlanetF1, Newey is tasked with managing the relationships between Aston Martin’s technical suppliers. These include Aramco, for their fuel, Valvoline, for their lubricants, and most notably, Honda, the team’s engine supplier beginning in 2026. This is not the first time Newey will be working on a Honda-powered car, as his former team, Oracle Red Bull Racing, has worked with the Japanese engine manufacturer since 2015 but will be switching to Ford-manufactured engines starting in 2026. 

For this year, though, it seems Newey and the entire Aston Martin team are focused on improving the confidence of their drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, and to compete for consistent points appearances. In a statement to F1.com, newly-appointed team principal Andy Cowell said, “what we’ve worked on through the winter is to try and create a car that is more stable through corners, is more predictable to drive through the race, and we feel that that will reward us well with regards to race performance.” Neither Alonso nor Stroll finished on the podium once during the 2024 season, as the last top-three appearance for the team was at the 2023 São Paulo Grand Prix. It looks like the pressure is on for the team in racing green, but perhaps the experienced Newey will be what Aston Martin needs to finally make their mark in Formula One.