Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team has today announced a bombshell upper management reshuffle. The move sees former team principal Andy Cowell become the team’s chief strategy officer, with managing technical partner Adrian Newey directly replacing him.
In his new role, Cowell will focus on power unit integration, and liaising with the team’s new 2026 engine supplier Honda. Newey meanwhile will continue his technical role in addition to his new responsibilities running the team.
The announcement comes as a surprise to many within Formula 1, especially in light of rumours circulating the paddock in the past few weeks. Recent speculation suggested Newey’s former Red Bull colleague Christian Horner may be in line for the Aston team principal job. With Newey taking up that role, those rumours are now seemingly at an end.
An Exemplary Career
Adrian Newey has enjoyed a long and storied career in Formula 1, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest technical minds in the history of the sport. After starting his career at the underfunded Fittipaldi team, he gained his first chief designer role with March in 1988. There, his aerodynamic prowess helped the small team to punch well above its weight.
This promise netted Newey a move to Williams, where he helped the team win four driver’s and five constructor’s championships. Further success followed with McLaren, where Mika Hakkinen claimed the 1998 and 1999 world driver’s championships in Newey-designed machines. Such successes meant that by the 2000s, Newey had already established a reputation as F1’s premier car designer.
More recently, Newey was best known for his lengthy and illustrious tenure with Red Bull Racing. After signing a deal to join the team in 2005, he helped elevate the energy drink concern to championship success. His cars enjoyed particular success in the early 2010s, and in the recent ground-effect regulations cycle in force since 2022. Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen both enjoyed championship success in Newey’s designs during these two periods.
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Newey’s tenure at Red Bull finally ended in September 2024. After nearly two decades with the team, an offer from Aston Martin along with a share of the team proved too enticing to turn down. Newey took up his role within the Silverstone-based team in March this year, and has been working on their 2026 car ever since. With Honda also joining the team as engine supplier, much is expected of Newey’s new design come next year.
Uncharted Territory
While Newey is best known for his technical work, he has long sought involvement on the organisational side in F1. Indeed, his departure from Williams in late 1996 was attributed by many to the team’s failure to consult Newey on matters such as driver selection. Similar political wrangling nearly led to him leaving McLaren to join Jaguar in 2001 too.
In giving him full control over their F1 team, Aston Martin and its owner Lawrence Stroll have given Newey the ultimate vote of confidence. Time will tell if his inarguable technical ability and eye for detail translates to the organisational side of Formula 1.
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