Aston Martin Reveals Expected Timeline Of Adrian Newey's Impact After Imminent Arrival

Aston Martin CEO Andy Cowell, who recently took on the role of team principal as part of a structural overhaul, believes the benefits of legendary designer Adrian Newey will be felt immediately after his joining on March 3.

The Silverstone outfit eagerly anticipates Newey's arrival, especially considering its struggles in the 2024 season where neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll secured podium finishes, a stark contrast from the team's performance in 2023. Newey, who was Red Bull's chief technical officer, designed cars such as 2023's RB19, which helped Red Bull dominate the F1 grid by helping win 21 out of 22 Grands Prix.

Aston Martin's restructuring efforts, Newey's signing, and a new facility at Silverstone that houses a state-of-the-art wind tunnel which is still in the commissioning phase are part of team founder Lawrence Stroll's vision to make it a winning team. Speaking at the digital launch of the 2025 AMR25 F1 car, Cowell praised Newey and suggested that his impact will be felt in the "opening days." He said:

"He's one of the few engineers that can bridge across aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics and the data logger that is the driver.

"He can communicate well with the driver and pull out the comments that the telemetry perhaps isn't showing and can bring that back into the factory on campus and help us chase the thing that will deliver the best lap time improvement.

"I think we'll feel the benefit of him in the opening days. I'm sure he's frustrated with not working on a Formula 1 car at the moment, especially as there are new regulations out.

"And I'm sure he will be coming up with observations pertinent to the car concept, and also in terms of the tools, in terms of the fidelity of our tools and equipment, and his thoughts on where we should make improvements."

Cowell then explained how Newey's creativity would add to the team's performance. He also stressed that in this age of artificial intelligence, humans would be able to use AI to expand their creative horizons, instead of AI replacing humans. When asked about the key area where Newey's creativity excelled, the team boss said:

"Human creativity is hard to quantify, isn't it?

"There's the threat of AI coming in and taking over from human creativity, but I think AI is a tool that helps human creativity.

"So I think individuals like Adrian, he's got a broad perspective and the determination to chase down beliefs in performance, and I believe that's what he will add."

When he was asked if AI would never replace Newey, Cowell answered:

"You can probably make it broader than that, can't you? It's not just Adrian."