Red Bull’s long-time engineer Adrian Newey, who has been at the heart of the team’s success in Formula 1 for nearly 20 years, will join Aston Martin next year, the British team announced on Tuesday.
“I felt I needed a new challenge,” said the 65-year-old Englishman on Tuesday, who will leave the reigning world champion team in early 2025, which he joined in 2006, a year after it was created.
Newey, who will start his assignment at the new Silverstone factory on March 1, 2025, will become associate technical manager, a newly created position, as well as a shareholder in the team owned by Canadian businessman Lawrence Stroll.
“I’ve been approached by a lot of teams and I’m flattered by them, but Lawrence’s passion, commitment and enthusiasm made him very compelling. In this modern era, Lawrence is unique, he’s the only team owner that’s so involved, it reminds me of the old model. The opportunity to be a shareholder and manager had never been offered to me so it really became a natural fit,” Newey explained Tuesday during his introductory press conference.
Once tipped to join Ferrari after the announcement of his departure from Red Bull at the beginning of May, Newey, who has committed to the “long term”, could earn up to 25 million pounds per year (around 30 million euros) in the ranks of the English manufacturer, according to several media outlets.
“Adrian is the best in the world in his field. He is the key, the main piece of the puzzle. He will be the technical leader of our project. He is not an investment, he is a shareholder and partner and he is the best possible choice. It is not expensive for all that Adrian will bring,” Stroll stressed.
– 12 world titles –
With 12 constructors’ world championships won with seven drivers as famous as Alain Prost, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, Adrian Newey, 65, has one of the richest records of F1 engineers.
We owe him the McLaren that allowed the Finn Mika Häkkinen to be crowned in 1998 and 1999 and, before that, the Williams that brought a title each to Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve between 1992 and 1997. But it is for Red Bull that the Briton experienced his richest hours.
The Briton designed the single-seaters that brought the Milton Keynes-based team six constructors’ world championship titles between 2010 and 2023 and seven drivers’ titles with Vettel (from 2010 to 2013) then Verstappen (from 2021 to 2023).
He perfectly took the new regulatory turn imposed on teams in 2022, designing an unbeatable single-seater that allowed Red Bull to win 17 of the 22 GPs contested in 2022 then 21, still out of 22, the following year, atomizing the competition. The next evolution of the regulations is expected on track at the beginning of 2026.
With the arrival of Newey, Aston Martin hopes to once again be at the forefront after its flamboyant start to the 2023 season, during which its driver Fernando Alonso had a string of podiums.
The British team is currently only fifth in the constructors’ championship, far behind Red Bull and McLaren, wheel to wheel at the top of the hierarchy this 2024 season.
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