Aston Martin reveal what Adrian Newey did ‘almost straight away’ after starting work at team

Aston Martin have provided an insight into Adrian Newey’s first days at the squad, with the F1 design guru “rolling his sleeves up” and getting “straight into the job”.

Newey officially started work at Aston Martin on March 3, several months after he was announced as their Managing Technical Partner – having previously ended a long-term relationship with Red Bull.

Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll has called 66-year-old Newey “the greatest in the world at what he does” and “the biggest part of the puzzle” for his operation from a technical perspective moving forward.

Newey’s arrival comes as the team add the latest elements to their all-new state-of-the-art campus at Silverstone, prepare for a works engine partnership with Honda from 2026, and bed in other signings.

SILVERSTONE, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Adrian Newey at a press conference at Aston Martin — Newey recently started work at the Aston Martin factory, which is located next to the Silverstone circuit

Speaking on the eve of the 2025 F1 season, newly-appointed Team Principal Andy Cowell outlined what Newey’s first few days have looked like – and how the experienced Briton has “embedded himself immediately”.

“There’s been huge interest in Adrian’s arrival but he’s not one for great ceremony,” said Cowell in an interview published on the official Aston Martin website.

“He walked into his office at the AMR Technology Campus, put his briefcase down, and was in a concept meeting almost straight away, discussing an area of the car.

“He’s embedded himself immediately. He’s met all our exec team and quickly immersed himself with our engineers, attentively listening to what people are saying about the work they’ve done.

“Ultimately, he’s an engineer helping engineer our race cars. He’s just rolled his sleeves up and got straight into the job. He’s asking questions, he’s offering opinions and he’s bringing a fresh perspective. We’re delighted to have him.”

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With time required for Newey’s influence to be felt on the cars driven by Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, Cowell also discussed where Aston Martin stand in terms of their 2025 package ahead of this weekend’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

“We’re all excited to be in Australia and experience the thrill of our first race of the season,” he commented. “Naturally, we cannot wait to hit the track with the AMR25; we’re racers – competing on the track is where we want to be.

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“Our efforts over the winter have been focused on making the car more driveable and benign for our drivers. The data from testing and the feedback from both Lance and Fernando suggests we have made steps forward in this regard, but now we want to confirm this progress at the season-opening Grand Prix.

“There are still areas of the car we need to continue to improve – you’re always learning in F1 – so having a race weekend’s worth of data will be invaluable as we look to develop the car.”

After a brief spell in F1 in the late-1950s and early-1960s, Aston Martin returned to F1 as a works team in 2021 – finishing seventh, seventh, fifth and fifth in the Teams’ standings over the last four years.