Adrian Newey is set to make his first appearance as an F1 team principal at the Qatar Grand Prix, after Aston Martin confirmed he would replace Andy Cowell.
Cowell, who is now chief strategy officer, will focus more closely on the team’s partnership with Honda, who are set to supply engines from 2026.
According to reports, those changes were made following disagreements within the team.
It has been reported that Newey saw himself as the main voice in charge of the organisation, while Cowell did not. Lawrence Stroll then sided with the 66-year-old and gave him a role with more influence than any he had held previously.
Insider claims Aston Martin have lost control as Adrian Newey steps in
Newey is seen as one of the sport’s sharpest minds, but the changes happening at Aston Martin raise questions. The team has been building towards 2026 for some time, and they cannot afford to lose focus.
After the team rebranded in 2021, Otmar Szafnauer took charge before moving to Alpine. He was replaced by Mike Krack, who held the position for three years before Cowell took over.
Aston Martin have had four bosses in four years and have never found consistency. Stroll’s recruitment push added plenty of big names, but one staff member said that it left them with too many authority figures.
The insider said to Blick: “Things are completely out of control here. We simply have too many chiefs on board.”
In addition to Newey and Cowell, Stroll has recruited several other key figures, such as former Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile and senior Mercedes aerodynamicist Eric Blandin. Furthermore, Dan Fallows was brought over from Red Bull in 2022 but was subsequently removed from his position last year.
Zak Brown warns Aston Martin: Adrian Newey ‘can’t do it all’
According to The Race, seven staff members are leaving Aston Martin as part of a shake-up led by Newey, but it might take time for his influence to show real results on the track.
There is also talk that the Briton’s stint as team principal may be short-lived, with Stroll eventually looking to bring in a CEO figure similar to how McLaren operates with Zak Brown.
Brown appeared on The Sports Agents podcast where he discussed the situation, explaining why he feels the approach is wrong: “You need to have a certain skillset from a managerial point of view. I know Adrian very well. The guy’s an absolute legend.
“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.
“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.
“I would want to make sure Adrian is spending 100% of his time on his race car, because that’s his genius. 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.”
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