On 26 November, Aston Martin introduced that Adrian Newey can be its System 1 crew principal for the 2026 season.
Legendary System 1 engineer Newey joined Aston on 1 March as managing technical director and can take over from present crew boss Andy Cowell, who’s stepping apart to change into chief technique officer.
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Newey will subsequently change into Aston’s third crew principal in simply 12 months, as billionaire proprietor Lawrence Stroll’s mammoth funding into the Silverstone-based squad up to now fails to repay.
Stroll employed a few of the greatest technicians from different groups – together with Newey and Cowell, a long-time chief of Mercedes’ powertrain division – and turned the previous Power India manufacturing facility into state-of-the-art services, however Aston nonetheless struggled within the final season of the ground-effect period. The outfit got here seventh within the 2025 constructors’ championship, with Fernando Alonso’s fifth place in Hungary its highest end.
Nonetheless, the two-time world champion insisted this underperformance had nothing to do with the choice to entrust Newey with extra duties.
“No, I do not suppose so,” Alonso stated of poor outcomes probably influencing the choice. “2025 is a difficult season for us, no doubts. However to be sincere, this isn’t eradicating the long-term view of the crew. The state of affairs we’re in is what it’s. We’re combating for simply the previous few factors in some races and we aren’t pleased with that. However this isn’t actually influencing any choice or any large change within the crew.”
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Staff, hugs Lawrence Stroll, Proprietor, Aston Martin F1 Staff, on the grid
Picture by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Photos
Alonso wasn’t caught unawares by this administration reshuffle, explaining that Stroll commonly mentioned it with him.
“Lawrence is speaking to us commonly, as soon as every week on the cellphone, and when he involves the races, on daily basis we’ve got lunch or dinner collectively,” the Spaniard revealed. “So we’re all the time within the loop, as an instance, on what Lawrence thinks. [He] asks opinions on what might be greatest for the crew, what’s lacking. So we’re very concerned all the time on every thing that they’re considering.
“Clearly, we have no energy of selections, however they maintain us knowledgeable. So this was slowly arising, that Lawrence was excited about this factor.”
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