The huge Formula One news in the week running up to the star Grand Prix came from Aston Martin who appointed its fourth new team principal in four years. Disagreements between Andy Cowell and Adrian Newey are said to have been at the heart of this announcement, with the former team boss disagreeing with the recent dismissals of certain individuals from the technical team made by Newey.
The paddock was rife with rumours in Las Vegas over whether Andy Cowell’s position at Aston Martin was untenable. The team have reacted quickly to quash rumours that Christian Horner was in the frame, by appointing one of F1’s greatest engineers in Newey.
Yet once the aftershocks had settled down, many F1 analysts began questioning the wisdom of this decision. Newey is the best paid employee in Silverstone and his expertise was intended to be focused on improving the competitiveness of the 2026 Aston Martin racing prototype.
‘Too many chiefs’ says Aston insider
The role of a team principal is broad and varied including regular meetings with the heads of departments including HR, Finance and PR. Newey does not have the skill set to perform this kind of role and his camera shy character may struggle to deal with frenzied media demands each weekend in the paddock.
Team owner Lawrence Stroll has been assembling a “who’s who” wish list of senior engineers from across the sport, but the unsettled and ever changing management structure is unsettling the team in Silverstone.
Swiss media outlet, Blick, are reporting a particular employee of Aston Martin says the constant upheavals have left the team with “too many authority figures.” Stroll had recruited Andy Cowell as team boss and CEO given his star fame as the brains behind the all conquering Mercedes V6 turbo hybrid.
McLaren stubbornly claim they’ll “change nothing” for Qatar
Persistent management upheaval in Slverstone
Eric Cardile, Ferrari’s previous technical director recently arrived at the team along with Eric Blandin previously Mercedes senior aerodynamicist. Dan Fallows, Newey’s right hand man at Red Bull was removed from his role following the announcement that Newey would be joining Aston Martin just over a year ago.
“Things are completely out of control here,” the insider told Blick. “We simply have too many chiefs on board.” This must be a worrying assessment for Stroll to hear from his foot soldiers and the surprise appointment of Newey as team boss may be an attempt to resolve this.
Narrowing the team principal role has been something a number of the F1 competitors have been attempting in recent times. Following the departure of Christian Horner from Milton Keynes, the Red Bull parent company announced they would be taking on the role of press relations and PR.
McLaren have a double headed leadership, with Zak Brown as CEO often handling the bulk of the media demands during an F1 weekend. This allows Andrea Stella to focus on the race track team functions, although the Italian usually gives a post Grand Prix briefing to the various broadcasters.
CEO role for Horner at Aston Martin
Zak Brown questions Newey’s skillset
Brown himself addressed the Aston Martin bog news in Qatar. The McLaren CEO warned the Silverstone team that Newey ‘can’t do it all’ – and continued saying if he were the boss at Silverstone, he would want the Englishman ‘100%’ focused on car design.
“You need to have a certain skillset from a managerial point of view,” he said. “I know Adrian very well. The guy’s an absolute legend. [but the implication is his skillset is not that required to be an F1 TP]. I don’t know their structure. This is just me looking from the outside in. The model that we have at McLaren is that Andrea takes the performance of the racing team, and I take the performance of the business.”
Sponsors have to be wined and dined and the commercial nature of any F1 team’s business is demanding and complex. “Andrea couldn’t give 100% to what he’s doing if he also had to do what I’m doing. [Newey] can’t do it all. He can’t design a race car and be a team principal, and a CEO. What I don’t know is what parts of the job he’s doing.”
Drama at the FIA: Could McLaren be thrown out of 2025 F1 championships
Marko dismissive of Newey appointment
Interestingly the Newey announcement did not refer to who will take on the mantle of CEO, which was performed by Cowell alongside his team principal role. The BBC reported that Newey had given his old boss Christian Horner a guided tour of the Silverstone facility “under cover of darkness” last Tuesday.
“I would want to make sure Adrian is spending 100% of his time on his race car, because that’s his genius,” added Brown. “For every meeting he’s in that’s not about designing the race car, where is his skill best? When you’ve got the best race car designer ever, I’d want him 100% on designing the car.”
Earlier in the week, Dr. Helmut Marko speaking to Servus TV was dismissive of the move by Lawrence Stroll. “I can’t imagine it,” he said bluntly. “Newey’s strengths lie in design, production, monitoring and component weight.
“The team principal is a completely different field of activity. And then there’s the time, where would he find it? It would distract him from his original design work. I don’t think Newey is the ideal man for this position.”
Marko reveals Red Bull’s 2026 “huge advantage”
Christian Horner waiting in the wings
Marko concluded the move is purely symbolic while Aston Martin decide who should take the role of CEO. “Sometimes it’s important for people to have a certain title, but in practical terms, I can’t imagine him fully fulfilling this operational role,” said the 83 year old Austrian.
Lawrence Stroll has reportedly been court Christian Horner for some years, before the Red Bull boss was summarily dismissed from his role in Milton Keynes. ‘A secret guided tour’ at an F1 facility which pretty much runs 24/7 is nigh on impossible and Newey would know the news would get out.
This feels like a soft launch for a future announcement that Horner will join the Aston Martin team, once the non-disclosure agreements relating to his pay off from Red Bull have expired in April of 2026.
FIA fail over new F1 driving standards guidelines
Introduced in 2022 and previously kept a secret, the F1 stewards ‘driving standards guidelines’ has in recent times led to heated debates inn the paddock over penalties issued – or not – and was the subject of an annual consultation with the drivers in the run up to the Qatar GP weekend.
The guidelines were introduced following repeated accusations that the stewarding decisions were inconsistent from weekend to weekend. Yet the codification of what is a legal overtake and what is a failed attempt deserving of a penalty has merely heightened the debate over whether F1 should have full time stewards.
Most recently, Oscar Piastri was penalised in the early stages of the Sao Paulo GP for attempting a move on the inside of Kimi Antonelli into turn one at Interlagos…. READ MORE
With over 30 years of experience in Formula 1 as an insider journalist, I have built trusted connections across the paddock, from race engineers and mechanics to senior team figures. At The Judge 13, I and a handful of trusted colleagues share exclusive Formula 1 news, expert analysis and behind-the-scenes stories you will not find in mainstream motorsport media.
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
In addition to editorial duties, Andrew is particularly interested in how media narratives shape fan perception of Formula 1, and how reporting can balance speed with accuracy in an increasingly digital news environment.
