Newey Goes Green: Aston Martin Secures Adrian Newey's Services for 2025 and Beyond

The 65-year-old, regarded as one of F1's greatest innovators, has been chief technical officer at Red Bull since 2006, helping the team win seven drivers' championships and six constructors' titles.

But over the winter of 2024, his relationship with Red Bull boss Christian Horner soured over growing rumours of a power struggle inside the reigning constructors' champions. His departure was confirmed on May 1, the Thursday before the Miami Grand Prix. He will not undergo gardening leave, meaning he is free to work from the first half of 2025 while still attending several races, albeit with his responsibilities reduced.

Initially, Ferrari was the favourite for Newey's signature, with their new star driver, Lewis Hamilton, openly stating his interest in working with the Brit. Former employers McLaren and Williams were also in contention to sign him, but in the end, Aston Martin won the bidding war.

He will become a shareholder in the F1 team and assume the role of managing technical partner.

"I am thrilled to be joining the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One® Team," said Newey in an Aston Martin press release. "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.

"He is the only majority team owner who is actively engaged in the sport. His commitment is demonstrated in the development of the new AMR Technology Campus and wind tunnel at Silverstone, which are not only state of the art but have a layout that creates a great environment to work in.

"Together with great partners like Honda and Aramco, they have all the key pieces of infrastructure needed to make Aston Martin a world championship-winning team, and I am very much looking forward to helping reach that goal."

Stroll's grand plan for title glory

Since buying the financially stricken Force India team in 2018, Lawrence Stroll has set himself one goal: breaking the big four teams' monopoly on wins and becoming world champions.

His first step was rebranding the team to Aston Martin and securing Sebastian Vettel's services for 2021. The German got the brand's first podium in F1 with second place at the Azerbaijan GP before his retirement in 2022.

The next pieces of the puzzle were the construction of a state-of-the-art factory at Silverstone featuring a new wind tunnel and the hiring of Red Bull's former head of aerodynamics, Dan Fallows, as technical director.

With Vettel's sudden retirement in the summer of 2022, Stroll wasted no time snapping up the services of another former world champion, Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard moved to the team after being disillusioned with the state of the Alpine team.

Alonso's gamble paid off as he returned to the rostrum for the first time since 2014, securing six podiums in the first eight races and eventually finishing fourth in the drivers' standings.

During the 2023 season, Stroll made another coup, securing works Honda engines for 2026. The Japanese manufacturer had powered Red Bull to three consecutive drivers' championships but were left out in the cold after the reigning constructors champions announced they would switch to Ford for 2026.

Although the team's results have plateaued in 2024, they remain on a recruiting drive. Former Mercedes power unit guru Andy Cowell and Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile were recruited.

The long career of Adrian Newey

After graduating from the University of Southampton in 1980 with a first-class honours degree in Aeronautics and Astronomy, Newey moved straight into F1 with the Fittipaldi team in 1980.

He moved to March in 1981 and designed the 85C and 86C, which won the 1985 and 1986 CART series titles. Bobby Rahal took the 86C to victory in the 1986 Indy 500.

Newey returned to F1 in 1988, with Leyton House March producing the revolutionary 881. In the hands of talented Italian Ivan Capelli, the car finished twice on the podium, and Maurício Gugelmin, who finished third at the 1989 Brazilian GP before the car was replaced by the CG891.

Success dried up in the following two years, and Newey departed March midway through the 1990 season before being recruited by Williams.

What followed was nearly a decade of Williams dominance, as Newey's cars helped the team win five constructors' titles and four drivers' titles. The FW14B and FW15 were particularly innovative, featuring traction control, ABS, and active suspension before the FIA banned these innovations in 1994.

However, during this period of dominance, Newey suffered the blackest day of his racing career. On Lap 7 of the 1994 San Marino GP at Imola, Ayrton Senna, being chased hard by Benetton's Michael Schumacher for the lead, approached the fast left-hander Tamburello corner at approaching 190mph.

As he entered the corner, Senna's Williams suffered a steering column failure, causing him to drive straight into an unprotected wall. During the impact, debris penetrated the Brazilian's helmet, causing him grave head injuries and to lose a severe amount of blood trackside as medics desperately tried to save the three-time world champion's life. Despite the best efforts of medical teams and doctors at the Maggiore Hospital in Bologna, he succumbed to his injuries at 6:40 local time, robbing F1 of one of its greatest talents.

Following the crash, Newey, along with Frank Williams and Patrick Head, were put on trial in Italy and were charged with manslaughter but were later cleared. Senna's death has continued to haunt the Brit and made him question his involvement in the sport.

Enraged by Damon Hill's dismissal and wanting to take on a bigger technical role, Newey left Williams in the winter of 1996 and was placed on gardening duty. He wasn't unemployed for long, with McLaren boss Ron Dennis snooping in and securing his services for 1997 and starting work for 1998.

After spending 1997 on the sidelines, Newey's first McLaren MP4-13 was ready for 1998 and was instantly dominant. Mika Hakkinen took his maiden world title, beating Schumacher, and McLaren secured the constructors' title.

Hakkinen made it back-to-back drivers championships in 1999, but the titles quickly stopped as Schumacher and Ferrari would win the next five drivers and constructors championships.

Disillusioned at McLaren, Newey departed for Red Bull in 2006 after a brief flirtation with Jaguar in 2001. After five difficult years under Ford's ownership, the team was still finding its feet as the paddock's party team under the management of Horner, the youngest team principal in F1 at the time.

It took some time to turn Red Bull into a contender, but a new regulation change was the catalyst for a change in the team's fortunes. Sebastian Vettel enjoyed a breakout year, finishing runners-up in the driver's standings in 2009, taking five wins.

Newey's RB6 was the car to have in 2010, and Red Bull duly cruised to the constructors title, with Vettel winning the drivers championship at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

The combination of Vettel and Newey's cars remained untouchable for the rest of the V8 era. Three consecutive titles followed before new regulations saw a switch to V6 turbo hybrids for 2014.

The dominance didn't transition into the new era, with Renault's V6 engine proving no match for Mercedes, which crushed the competition. Starved of success, Newey came close to switching to Ferrari and even leaving F1 altogether before being persuaded to stay by Horner.

In this period, Newey turned his attention to road cars, designing the Aston Martin Valkyrie and the Red Bull RB17, which was revealed at the Goodwood Festival of Speed in July 2024.

After a seven-year title drought, Newey's cars returned to the top of F1 in 2021 when Max Verstappen snatched his maiden drivers' title on the last lap of the Abu Dhabi GP. The title was particularly emotional for the Brit who had suffered severe injuries in a cycling accident in Croatia.

New ground effect regulations were introduced in 2022, and with Newey's previous experience with this form of aerodynamics during his early racing days, Red Bull conquered F1. Verstappen secured the constructor's title and a second drivers' championship in 2022.  In 2023, the team was one race away from achieving the perfect season but still successfully defended their titles.

At the time of writing, Newey's record stands at 13 drivers and 12 constructors titles.