Huge shakeup for Newey – Newey to change his style of working at Aston Martin – Mutter the words Adrian Newey amongst F1 folk and the response will include the adjective ‘legend.’ The guru F1 car designer has won 13 F1 drivers’ championships along with 12 constructor titles at three different teams.

Those who know Newey understand he is a restless soul and as most genius characters are can be quite sensitive and prone to a loss of temper. His first foray into Formula One was with the minnow March/Leyton house team. In his book ‘How to build a car’ Newey reveals the was racked with self doubt over his designs even though in 1988 his car in fact hassled the uber dominant McLaren Mp4/4.

Come 1990 and the Leyton House owner Akira Akagi was in financial trouble, so he brought in a new team financial director named Simon Keeble to – as Newey put it – “tighten the purse strings on his behalf”. And with team boss Ian Phillips recovering from meningitis, Keeble became acting team principal.

 

 

 

Newey’s’ early F1 troubles 

Keeble had doubts about Newey, perhaps understandably after a year and a half of underperformance. Newey says they “were at permanent loggerheads, getting into shouting matches”, and Keeble was making it quite clear he was approaching other designers.

Newey was approached by Williams, which wanted him as head of research and development which he accepted, but before he had the opportunity to resign his post, Keeble informed him he was being replaced by Chris Murphy from Lola as the Leyton House technical director.

On day one at Willians, Newey was promoted to the role of chief designer with success following soon after. Yet cracks in his relationship with team owner Frank Williams and technical director Patrick Head began to emerge as Adrian was unhappy with how they treated Nigel Mansell.

Mansell won the 1992 drivers’ championship then left the team seeking pastures new in Indycar. Adrian Newey continued on with the Grove based team gaining more control and responsibility for selecting suppliers and also an agreement he be consulted over drivers.

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Frank Williams promised inclusion

“No more decisions made over lunch for me to learn about them much later,” Newey wrote. Yet the ‘having a say’ promise didn’t last long when Williams tested jacque Villenueve while he was on holiday. The agreement between the three was if the Canadian Indy500 winner could get within a second of Damon Hill’s pace, Jacques would earn another test.

Yet Head and Williams forged ahead and offered Villeneuve the drive for the following season, without consulting their technical wizard. Frank Williams apologised and agreed Adrian would be included in all major decisions.

Yet barely a few months had passed before Williams signed Heinz-Harald Frentzen to replace Damon Hill for 1997, before the 1996 season had even begun. Newey discovered this late August and was incandescent with rage.

Sniffing a whiff od disunity in the Williams team, McLaren swooped and offered Newey a job. Even though Frank Williams improved on their offer, Adrian decided it was time to go.

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Rocky start for Newey at McLaren

Things at McLaren were not sweetness and light from the off as Newey made it clear he wanted again to be involved in the major decisions made on behalf of the team. Ron Dennis promised in 2000 that he and Martin Whitmarsh would succeed him to run the team, but by 2005 there was no change.

Newey was offered a job at Jaguar, but Dennis explained to him the top down decision making of the Ford Plc and Adrian rescinded his notice. But broken promises continued to be made and a row over Whitmarsh refusing to agree to a new monocoque for 2004 had Newey incensed. “I have to admit I totally lost it, called Martin all the name under the sun and stormed out – not my proudest moment,” Newey explained in his book.

Whitmarsh led a group arguing that with reliability improvements it could be the basis of the 2004 car. 2005 saw the debut of Red Bull Racing in F1 and team boss Christian Horner was aware of the rumblings over at McLaren. He and team advisor Dr. Helmut Marko wood Newey throughout the year.

Red Bull announced they had captured the services of Adrian Newey late in 2005 and the McLaren driver was promptly marched off the premises in Woking. The attraction of being involved in the start up of the F1 team in Milton Keynes was something Newey explained completed some unfinished business from his Leyton House days where he felt as matters were coming together, the rug had been pulled out from underneath him.

 

 

 

Red Bull understand Newey’s needs

The relationship between Christian Horner, the late Didi Mateschitz and Adrian Newey made the genius F1 car designer feel like Red Bull was in fact his home. And despite at times New feeling unhappy about the direction of F1, Red Bull managed to retain his services by entertaining him with America’s Cup boat design projects and later the Aston Martin Valkyries before finally the RB17 supercar.

The team around Newey learned well from him over the year’s, such that in 2018 he stepped down from th role as team tefvhnical director to work part time. Adrian spent half the year in South Africa at his second home and was allowed to come and go as he pleased, offering input where he saw fit.

The way in which Red Bull handled Newey was the key to his longevity with the team, but as all good thongs must come to an end, Adrian announced last year he was leaving the team. Having suggested he was taking time out of Formula One and going on a long road trip with his wife and dogs, within months it was announced he would be joining Aston Martin. The key driver being given shares in the team and a title of ‘magian partner’ which unequivocally states he has a seat at the top table with owner Lawrence Stroll.

Stroll released the real pull was something Frank Williams failed to deliver for Newey as the legendary founder of the Grove based F1 team admitted in 2012. Frank Williams accepted it was a mistake not to give Newey some shares in the team ownership to make him feel fully part of the team. Stroll has delivered on this promise which even Red Bull never offered.

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Stroll gives Newey what he always wanted

Yet Newey is going to have to change his ways when he steps through there doors of the Silverstone factory in March this year, as his new commitment is to once again work full time. No other projects inside the Aston Martin Group are on offer, his job is to win multiple championships for the team as team principal Andy Cowell revealed at the F175 launch event.

“Adrian is going to be a free spirit, you can’t tell him what to do,” said Fernando Alonso to the  Spanish media at F175. “The day he arrives, if he can give us a hand in 2025, fine. If he wants to work only in 2026, fine too.

It could be he merely focuses on the new car design for 2026 said Alonso, “because then he has clear ideas and doesn’t want to waste a single day. I asked Lawrence about it several times and he always tells me that he doesn’t think we can control him.”

For a control freak like billionaire Lawrence Stroll, this is quite some feat to allow Newey such freedom. Of course results must follow but team boss Andy Cowell believes its only a matter of time.

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Winning back to back titles is Aston’s goal

“We believe by working like that we’ll get quicker and quicker. We want to win races, we want to win championships, we would like our drivers to be first and second in the Drivers’ Championship, and we’d love to win back-to-back championships.

“That’s the dream, to have the racing green car to see the chequered flag first, and to do it race after race after race,” said the ex-Mercedes V6 turbo hybrid guru designer.

Cowell replaces Mike Crack this season as team principal with the former boss becoming chief trackside engineer. Enrico Cardile has arrived from Ferrari as chief technical officer, yet none of them have the security that Stroll has given to Newey.

Maybe now one of the most the restless souls in F1 can find his ultimate place of rest.

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Carlos Sainz calls out the FIA

Carlos Sainz was last year the victim of a global merging of brands as Lewis Hamilton picked up the phone to Ferrari chairman. John Elkann, to see if there was room at the inn in Maranello. The Brackley based outfit were responsible for handing Lewis six of his seven world titles, but they bit the buffers when the new ground effect regulations came into force in 2022.

Hamilton finished third in the drivers title race in 2023 and signed a a contract extension late on the year, which was announced a ‘multi year deal’, yet while the ink was still wet Hamilton decided the Mercedes team were not solving the problems which would return him to wining ways.

The victim in all this was Carlos Sainz, who had established himself firmly in the Ferrari F1 setup and whilst not quite delivering the results of his team mate Charles Leclerc, the Spaniard was no number two to the Monegasque. In fact Sainz and Leclerc have different driving styles and often when one would struggle over a race weekend, the other would perform well…. READ MORE