Newey pinpoints where Aston Martin F1 needs strengthening

Aston Martin tech chief Adrian Newey says he has been buoyed by the team he has encountered in Silverstone, but feels the squad’s aero department must grow in numbers to realise its potential.

Former Williams, McLaren and Red Bull designer Newey officially started at Aston Martin on March 3 in the newly created role of Managing Technical Partner, with a keen focus on getting the Lawrence Stroll owned team in the best possible position at the start of the 2026 regulations cycle.

Following a brief period in the limelight at the start of 2023, Aston Martin has gradually been shuffled back into the pack and has endured a dismal season so far, with the most recent Miami Grand Prix as its lowest ebb.

Aston Martin’s on-track fortunes thus far in 2025 are contrasting starkly with Stroll’s sky-high ambitions, with Newey among many elite level recruits hired in recent months and years to operate from Aston’s state-of-the-art Silverstone headquarters.

Speaking for the first time since he picked up his designer pencil at his shiny new glass-walled office, Newey says he has been encouraged by the dynamic he has found at Silverstone. But he acknowledged that while the team has obtained all the latest and greatest hardware, it still needs more strength in depth to compete at the sharp end of F1.

“Lawrence’s vision has created a great facility – the best facility in F1 – but it is important that we now optimise how we use it,” Newey was quoted as saying by Aston Martin. “F1 is about people. Yes, there is a lot of technology, but it’s people who drive things forward.

“My previous team had one of the worst wind tunnels in F1 and operates out of an unremarkable series of buildings on an industrial estate, but it managed to get everybody working together and developed a great group of people.

“We have many talented people – also a few areas that need strengthening with greater numbers – and we need to get everyone working together better, using these tools and developing our abilities.”

One key area for change

Newey pinpointed the team’s aero department as one area that could benefit from bolstering its ranks and explained what impact the current headcount has on developing the 2026 car.

“It’s always difficult when you have a big regulation change like this and all teams are resource-limited, because of the budget cap and simply because of staffing levels,” he explained.

“One area of our team that needs to grow is the aerodynamics department. But in the short term that means we’ve got to decide which directions are going to be the most fruitful and really concentrate our resources on those.

“Of course, in doing that, there’s always a danger that we’ve missed an avenue. Quite often, you have to go a long way down a certain branch before you know whether it’s going to be a fruitful one or not.

“I never like to say to a fellow engineer that they shouldn’t pursue something, but given the short timescales, in this case, I have to do that.”

Newey also detailed his limited involvement in turning around the team’s dwindling 2025 fortunes. 

“Lawrence understandably wants us to do as well as we can in 2025 so there’s a small team still working on this year’s car from an aerodynamics point of view,” he added. “I’ve had a few lunchtime conversations with that small group, discussing the car and what we can do about it.”