Adrian Newey is anticipating a new challenge at Aston Martin (Image: Getty)
believes that he will be at least ‘two months behind’ when he teams up with his new staff at after moved to ‘block his tools’ after his departure ahead of the 2024 .
The long-serving aerodynamicist opted to call time on his career in early 2024 amid a period of internal turmoil in Milton Keynes. Newey accepted a big-money offer from Lawrence Stroll’s Aston Martin project with a start date of March 2025.
However, F1’s most decorated engineer won’t have it easy at the Silverstone squad. “No, they can’t [stop me innovating], but they’ve blocked my tools,” Newey told the Autocar podcast.
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“So obviously, Aston wants to do the best job they can in ’25, but my main kind of focus will be the ’26 regulations and this big change, because I start on March 2. The aero rules come out, I think, 1 January, or might be the second, whatever the working day is.
“So I’ll already be kind of two months behind the curve. But in truth, of course, it’s more than that, because not only will I be behind on the looking at those regulations compared to when they’ve come out…
“With the way the regulations have gone, you really need to be in front of a CAD [computer-aided design] system as well, to be able to understand all the boxes and so forth. They’re so prescribed. But also, it will be getting to know a new team, getting to know all the guys and girls there and how we all work together.”
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Adrian Newey left Red Bull ahead of the Miami Grand Prix (Image: Getty)
With former employer working against him, Newey faces an immense challenge when he sets up shop in Aston Martin’s shiny new Silverstone facility. After scoring eight podiums during an impressive 2023 campaign, the team’s performances nosedived in 2024.
Mike Krack’s outfit still finished the year with a P5 Constructors’ Championship finish, but their 94-point haul is a monumental drop-off from a 280-point season in 2023. In the end, only Fernando Alonso’s strong early-campaign performances helped fend off the charging Alpine.
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Aside from Newey’s arrival and his engineering success in the face of ’s enforced gardening leave, one of the most significant factors influencing Aston Martin’s success in 2025 and beyond pertains to the form of .
The Canadian racer scored just 24 points in 2024, and Alonso was forced to spearhead the Aston Martin charge. Stroll ended the campaign with a run of 11 Grands Prix without a top-10 finish, and his mistake ahead of the Brazilian Grand Prix led to further debate about the merit of his place on the grid.