Over 20 years in the past, when Adrian Newey labored at McLaren, a narrative went across the System 1 paddock that he had successfully locked himself in his workplace along with his drafting board. As soon as he’d completed sketching a design, went the gossip, he pushed it via a letterbox for assortment by aero chief Peter Prodromou, whose job it was to make sure the assorted design places of work turned the sketch into aggressive actuality.
This will likely or will not be the work of idle tittle-tattle, but it surely’s a mark of Newey’s popularity that individuals have been prepared to provide credence to a narrative that framed him just like the mad outdated woman within the attic in a Victorian novel. Fourteen drivers’-championship-winning vehicles began life on his well-known drafting board, plus at the least 10 that fell simply quick, and but he’s notoriously publicity-shy.
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Like many artistic individuals, he wants the best atmosphere to thrive. In his personal autobiography he describes a battle with former McLaren boss over the colour of his workplace partitions. Newey felt the necessary battleship gray was oppressive and stifling, so he repainted it himself in duck-egg blue – to Dennis’s horror and fury. When McLaren moved to its current dwelling, a bespoke steel-and-glass edifice simply exterior Woking, Newey loathed its sterility (and Dennis’s clear-desk coverage) a lot he couldn’t wait to go away.
Ron Dennis with Adrian Newey, McLaren
Picture by: Motorsport Photographs
For all these causes – together with the rancorous circumstances of his departure from Purple Bull final yr – Newey’s arrival at Aston Martin has been the topic of feverish curiosity. For most individuals, when beginning a brand new job the primary orders of enterprise are easy: attempt to bear in mind all people’s identify, don’t transfer anyone’s cheese within the workplace fridge, don’t park in any individual else’s area, and completely don’t click on “reply to all”.
Such is Newey’s standing, although, that no sooner had he collected his employees move final Monday morning than he was whisked off on a tour of the positioning by CEO Andy Cowell and workforce proprietor Lawrence Stroll.
Aston Martin moved into its new $250million manufacturing unit – sorry, ‘expertise campus’ – final yr, the Monday after the Monaco Grand Prix. Not that the workforce had very far to go as a result of two of the brand new buildings have been constructed on both facet of the outdated one, which was then dynamited to make manner for a 3rd new edifice housing a health club and the employees restaurant during which Newey can stay up for convivial luncheons along with his fellow bigwigs.
At 400,000 sq. ft, the mixed footprint of the buildings on campus truly comes up smaller than rivals Mercedes (646,000 sq ft) and Purple Bull (700,000 sq ft). However, hey, dimension isn’t every little thing – and the campus contains 775,000 sq ft of wildflower meadow, 1500 freshly planted bushes, and a strolling/biking observe that’s a scale reproduction of the close by Silverstone Grand Prix circuit. Oh, and a helipad for when the proprietor flies in.
The additional land was acquired from a close-by farm. Having bought it, the farmer instantly filed objections to Aston Martin’s plans to construct on it, thus torpedoing any possibilities of getting a reduction on a Vantage. We think about Stroll will need to have chuckled into his morning espresso when the brand new UK authorities introduced plans to hit farmers with inheritance tax.
Amongst Newey’s first stops was the on-site wind tunnel, a state-of-the-art facility that has solely been open since January this yr. Till then, Aston Martin had been renting time within the Mercedes F1 tunnel simply up the street, in Brackley.
Newey then sat in on a collection of conferences, together with a dialogue of the 2026 automotive idea. That is prone to be his focus transferring ahead since, traditionally, Newey sees little worth in sinking time into curing the shortcomings of any individual else’s automotive (clearly this may increasingly change if the man signing the checks begins making sad noises about present efficiency).
Adrian Newey and Lawrence Stroll, Proprietor, Aston Martin F1 Workforce, on stage
Picture by: Andrew Ferraro / Motorsport Photographs
The workforce tells us that Newey left the workplace “loaded up with paperwork, reviews and memos to learn that night at dwelling”. Hopefully, not like Donald Trump at Mar-a-Lago, he didn’t go away these mendacity round within the lavatory.
That is one other perception into Newey’s working habits: he’s neither a 9-5 man nor an ostentatious exponent of presenteeism. One of many contributing components to the breakdown of his relationship with Purple Bull was workforce boss Christian Horner telling reporters that Newey solely works three days per week.
Possibly Newey was within the workplace three days per week, however his artistic mind isn’t off: if an concept involves him at 4am he’ll be at his drafting board inside minutes. He charges his productiveness on a scale of fractions of a second lopped off lap time relatively than hours logged behind a desk.
Talking of the instrument of the commerce, Aston informs us that “the enduring drafting board is in place” and that it has dressed Newey’s workplace “within the Aston Martin type”. Presumably not duck-egg blue on condition that inexperienced is the company palette.
Adrian Newey, Aston Martin Racing Workforce
Picture by: Aston Martin
In addition to partaking with Cowell, the lately appointed CEO and workforce principal, Newey has spent a lot of his first week assembly with senior engineering heads. Whereas Enrico Cardile, considerably controversially, is but to emerge from gardening go away after handing in his discover from Ferrari, and technical director Dan Fallows was ousted in a restructure late final yr, Aston Martin has loads of individuals with expertise at its prime desk. Engineering director Luca Furbatto has had senior roles at McLaren and Sauber, deputy technical director Eric Blandin has been head of aerodynamics at Ferrari and Mercedes, and govt director Bob Bell was answerable for the aerodynamics of a number of the most profitable McLaren F1 vehicles of the Nineteen Eighties.
Lunching on the on-site restaurant have to be a peculiar expertise for Bell, since he spent two years within the late Nineteen Nineties working within the constructing which previously occupied that web site. Maybe he’s been regaling Newey with tales of the race-winning Jordan 199 he engineered the place the canteen now stands – or possibly Newey has been bending Bell’s ear concerning the decor in his workplace.
We’ll discover out – particularly if he’s seen sneaking in underneath cowl of darkness with paint rollers underneath his arm relatively than blueprints, together with a number of pots of vinyl matt…
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Stuart Codling
System 1
Aston Martin Racing
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