Aston Martin Just Signed F1’s Most Successful Car Designer

This has been a big year for monumental team changes in Formula 1. We kicked things off with Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari for 2025, then it was announced that Audi was bringing Mattia Binotto in as team principal for its F1 effort. Now, Aston Martin has played its ace by revealing that it’s signed Red Bull designer Adrian Newey to join the team from 2025.

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Newey has been at Red Bull since 2006 when the team was in only its second year of competition. In the ensuing 18 years he’s been the brains behind every car that the team has fielded, helping it win 120 races and six constructors’ championships.

However, the famed designer revealed earlier this year that he was stepping away from the team. His announcement followed months of turmoil at Red Bull while team principle Christian Horner fought off allegations of inappropriate conduct.

Adrian Newey has been at Red Bull since 2006. Photo: Mark Thompson (Getty Images)

Now, after weeks of speculation, it’s finally been revealed that Newey will join Aston Martin from 2025 on a multi-year deal that also sees him become a shareholder in the team, reports the Guardian:

Newey was officially announced as Aston Martin’s new managing technical partner on Tuesday morning at the team’s factory at Silverstone with the 65-year-old expected to start work with the team and its drivers, double world champion Fernando Alonso and [Lawrence] Stroll’s son Lance, in March of next year.

“I am thrilled to be joining the Aston Martin team,” he said. “I have been hugely inspired and impressed by the passion and commitment that Lawrence brings to everything he is involved with. Lawrence is determined to create a world-beating team.”

“It’s the biggest story since the Aston Martin name returned to the sport,” said Stroll. “Another demonstration of our ambition to build a Formula One team capable of fighting for world championships.”

Newey will have a season to imbed himself with the team before Formula 1 undergoes another dramatic rule change ahead of the 2026 season. Aston Martin will be hoping that with Newey at the helm, it can put on the kind of show that Red Bull managed with the introduction of ground effect cars in 2022 with it winning back-to-back drivers’ and constructors’ championships since then.

The appointment of the ex-Red Bull designer won’t have come cheap for Aston, which has received a massive funding boost since Canadian billionaire Stroll took the helm of the then-Racing Point team back in 2018. With a new factory up and running and a new wind tunnel in progress, Stroll has plowed millions into the team. While no official comment has been made on the terms of Newey’s deal to join Aston Martin, Sky reports that his salary will start around $26 million per year plus bonuses.

Adrian Newey’s cars have won 120 races for Red Bull. Photo: Gongora/NurPhoto (Getty Images)

“When he saw what we have built at Silverstone – our incredible AMR Technology Campus, the talented group of people we have assembled and the latest wind tunnel in the sport – he quickly understood what we are trying to achieve,” said Stroll in a statement shared by Aston Martin.

“We mean business – and so does he. Adrian shares our hunger and ambition, he believes in this project, and he will help us write the next chapter in Aston Martin Aramco’s Formula One story.”

When he starts working at Aston in the new year, Newey will join former Ferrari designer Enrico Cardile as chief technical officer and ex-Mercedes engine engineer Andy Cowell as group chief executive. Those are some almighty names lining up at the team, piling the pressure on drivers Alonso and Stroll to deliver on track.

Newey has a history with Aston Martin, having designed the Valkyrie with the British automaker back in 2019 while it was the title sponsor of the Red Bull Formula 1 team.