Adrian Newey insists his new function as Aston Martin crew principal is not going to compromise his time or deal with F1 design work.
Earlier this weekend, Aston Martin made the shock announcement that Newey would succeed Andy Cowell as crew principal for the 2026 F1 season.
Newey joined Aston Martin final 12 months as managing technical companion and spearheaded the design crew.
Broadly thought to be the best automotive designer in F1 historical past, Newey will play a key function in Aston Martin’s 2026 venture.
Aston Martin has been recruiting and investing closely over time as proprietor Lawrence Stroll goals for glory within the F1 World Championship.
Cowell, who took over as crew principal from Mike Clack earlier this 12 months, has been moved to a distinct function.
Mr Cowell, who was the mastermind behind Mercedes’ V6 hybrid engine in 2014, will deal with Aston Martin’s collaboration with Honda from subsequent 12 months.
Given the most important rule modifications scheduled for 2026, Cowell’s precedence shall be to align Aston Martin, Honda (PU provider) and Aramco (gas provider).
Talking after dash qualifying in Qatar, Newey defined the explanations behind Aston Martin’s shocking modifications.
“To be trustworthy, the 2026 PU problem made it very clear that Andy’s ability set is certainly his ability set by way of serving to the three-way relationship between Honda, Aramco and us,” he defined to Sky Sports activities.
“He very generously volunteered to be closely concerned in that within the first half of 2026, however that left me with the query, ‘OK, who’s going to be TP?’ I’ll go to the early races anyway, so the workload does not change as a result of I am really there, so I would as nicely tackle that half apart from speaking to you (Ted Kravitz).”
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When Aston Martin introduced Newey as crew principal, there have been considerations that he could be unable to deal with what he does greatest: designing quick F1 vehicles.
As crew principal, Newey shall be required to attend races, communicate to the media and tackle different administrative duties.
Newey is assured that taking up this function is not going to diminish his time as a design genius.
“That is what I really need and need to do,” he added. “That is what will get me off the bed within the morning. I am decided to not dilute it.”
Aston Martin loved a powerful dash qualifying session in Qatar, with Fernando Alonso securing fourth place on the grid for the dash race.
