Aston Martin Poised For Major Gains With Adrian Newey’s Potential Involvement In 2025 Development

Adrian Newey, who moves to Aston Martin on the 1st of March as the team's managing technical partner and shareholder, has hinted at his potential involvement in the development of the team's 2025 F1 car. His input on the new car could improve Aston Martin's performance in a big way. Newey ended his previous role as chief technical officer at Red Bull in April 2024.

The aero guru has been responsible for Red Bull's superiority in the current ground effect era that began in 2022. The team operated at its peak performance in 2023 when it won 21 out of the 22 Grands Prix in the season. Newey had been a high-demand F1 figure, and Aston Martin's owner, Lawrence Stroll, managed to bring him on board with his vision for the team and his heavy investment in its new facility in Silverstone, which includes an advanced state-of-the-art wind tunnel.

As F1 teams aim at finding the right balance between the development of the 2025 car and the 2026 car, considering the regulations overhaul from next year when the sport enters an era governed by new regulations in all aspects, Newey revealed that his work this year would be to focus on the 2026 car. However, he anticipates the possibility of Stroll asking him for his input on the 2025 car, especially since Aston Martin struggled to find performance on its 2024 AMR24 F1 car after suffering from correlation problems last year. Speaking to Auto Motor und Sport, Newey said:

"My concentration will clearly be on '26. No doubt Lawrence will want me to be a little bit involved in the '25 car. So, whether I can really contribute anything or not, I've got no idea until I start.

"I've been out of Formula 1, really, since end of April. I have little detailed knowledge of the new regulations. On the power-unit side, the regulations have been out for some time, but in terms of the chassis side, aerodynamics and the vehicle dynamics, then I don't have much knowledge, so that will be a rapid learning curve when I do start."

The 66-year-old aerodynamicist also predicted that the new era will be dominated by engine regulations, hinting that the most powerful engine will dominate the F1 grid in the years to come, starting in 2026. He added:

"There has to be a big chance that it's an engine formula at the start. I can't remember another time in Formula 1 when both the chassis regulations and the engine regulations have changed simultaneously, and where in this case the chassis regulations have been very much written to try to compensate, let's say, for the power unit regulations. So, it's an extra dimension.

"There has to be a chance that one manufacturer will come out well on top, and it will become a power-unit-dominated regulation, at least to start with. There's a chance that if it's on the combustion engine side of it, that somebody comes up with a dominant combustion engine that will last through the length of the formula, because the way the regulations are written, it's quite difficult for people who are behind to catch up.

"If it's on the electrical side, then there's much more ability to catch up if you're behind. And on the fuel side, which might play a role as well, there's flexibility in principle, but with dyno restrictions and the fact that everything's so optimised, you can't simply chuck a different fuel into an engine that hasn't been optimised for it."