Due to Red Bull “blocking” Adrian Newey’s “tools” through gardening leave, plus the nature of the F1 2026 regulations, the F1 design guru says he will be behind the curve at Aston Martin.
Newey is regarded as one of, if not the greatest Formula 1 car designer of all-time, with title-winning success at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull on his CV, Newey having been with Red Bull for all 14 of their title successes across the Drivers’ and Constructors’ standings to date. However, Newey is back on the move.
Adrian Newey more than two months behind at Aston Martin
After his shock Red Bull departure was announced, Newey agreed a deal with Aston Martin to take on the newly-created ‘managing technical partner’ role, with the 66-year-old also given shares in the team headed by Lawrence Stroll.
Newey is set to start Aston Martin life from March 2, three months after teams are allowed to begin work on the huge regulatory reset coming for F1 2026, when new chassis and power unit rules are introduced.
With Aston Martin taking over use of the Honda power unit from Red Bull in 2026, the Silverstone squad will look to make its way towards F1 title glory with Newey focused on this upcoming new ruleset. However, he is battling against the odds.
While appearing on the Autocar podcast, it was put to Newey that while he has been on a period of soft gardening leave since May after announcing his Red Bull exit, with the RB17 hypercar his final focus, Red Bull cannot stop him thinking of innovations that will benefit his future employer Aston Martin.
He replied: “No, they can’t, but they’ve blocked my tools.
“So obviously, Aston wants to do the best job they can in ’25, but my main kind of focus will be the ’26 regulations and this big change, because I start on March 2.
“The aero rules come out, I think, 1 January, or might be the second, whatever the working day is.
“So I’ll already be kind of two months behind the curve. But in truth, of course, it’s more than that, because not only will I be behind on the looking at those regulations compared to when they’ve come out… With the way the regulations have gone, you really need to be in front of a CAD [computer-aided design] system as well, to be able to understand all the boxes and so forth. They’re so prescribed.
“But also, it will be getting to know a new team, getting to know all the guys and girls there and how we all work together.”
Newey is part of a cluster of recent high-profile acquisitions for Aston Martin, the team also bringing in Andy Cowell – head of the Mercedes engine programme during their time dominating Formula 1 – as their new group CEO, while Enrico Cardile has joined the team from Ferrari as Aston Martin’s new chief technical officer.