A new era has dawned at Aston Martin with legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey starting work at the team on Monday.
Newey, 66, has joined Aston Martin as managing technical partner in deal announced last September, after 19 years at Red Bull.
Trailing Newey’s eagerly-anticipated arrival on their social media channels on Sunday evening, Aston Martin posted a picture of what might be the Briton’s new office at their Silverstone factory.
The office included a drawing board, something which Newey famously still uses despite the technical advancements in F1 design over recent decades.
Newey’s arrival at Aston Martin comes with their car for the forthcoming 2025 season already having been designed and, last week in Bahrain, tested with the Briton’s main focus this year likely to be on F1’s major rules change for 2026, when his new team are eyeing a breakthrough at the front of the grid and are becoming Honda’s new works engine partners.
Although they have big ambitions under owner Lawrence Stroll to win world titles in the future, Aston Martin are also eying a stronger 2025 season compared to 2024 when they slipped away from the top four teams in the Constructors’ Championship.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Craig Slater and Ted Kravitz give their predictions as to which team will be quickest this season and who will be slowest after testing in Bahrain
The Silverstone-based team, though, appeared to experience a challenging pre-season test in Bahrain with their latest AMR25 car, completing the second-fewest laps and not catching the eye compared to midfield rivals on the timesheets.
New team principal Andy Cowell, who has overseen a winter management restructure at the team, said: “Initial feedback from Lance [Stroll] and Fernando [Alonso] suggests we have made progress with the drivability of the car, but we have also discovered areas that could be better and need more focus.
“It is very early days to be making any judgements on how much progress we have made during the winter and how we compare to our competition.
“We have been focused on ourselves; we have just kept our heads down to get the data and information we need before the racing begins.”
Aston Martin’s capture of Newey represents a sizeable coup given the veteran engineer’s record of multi title-winning success at his previous three teams in F1 – Red Bull, McLaren and Williams.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Craig Slater sits down with new Aston Martin chief Andy Cowell to discuss his new role, Adrian Newey and his aspirations for the new season and beyond
Asked in an interview with Sky Sports News last month whether Newey would have the freedom to operate in his new role as he chooses, Cowell said: “Adrian is very competitive, he’s very creative, and as an organisation we need to harness that, not stifle it.
“All the people that operate in the creative area, how do we provide an amazing environment – both personally as you come to work, [and] as you work in the building with other people?
“How do we make sure the tools are top drawer – the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), the wind tunnel, the manufacturing facilities? And therefore I think that’s the thing that inspires creative people.”
When is the first F1 race?
For the first time since 2019, the season-opener will be held in Melbourne at the Australian Grand Prix on March 14-16. The first race has switched from Bahrain to Australia due to Ramadan taking place throughout March.
There are 24 events on the 2025 F1 calendar, the same number as last year, with the season ending at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on December 5-7.
Watch all 24 race weekends from the 2025 Formula 1 season live on Sky Sports F1, starting with the Australian GP on March 14-16. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – No contract, cancel anytime
