Aston Martin is searching for a new team principal to work alongside Adrian Newey to strengthen its top-level administration.
The means of discovering a new team principal is claimed to have begun in late 2025, commencing upon Newey’s assumption of the team principal place to succeed Andy Cowell.
Adrian Newey leads Aston Martin team principal search
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Adrian Newey is on the forefront of Aston Martin’s search for a new team principal, PlanetF1.com can reveal, with the 67-year-old main the squad’s analysis of the market over current months – even earlier than the change that noticed him substitute Andy Cowell, and lengthy earlier than the realisation of its present on-track struggles.
Newey stepped into the team principal function at Aston Martin in November 2025, eight months after beginning work at Lawrence Stroll’s squad as managing technical accomplice. Crucially, Newey had been tempted by a minority shareholding, inserting him above any current administration within the firm’s hierarchy.
Cowell, who had been the team boss at Aston Martin, had been tempted out of a years-long sabbatical from F1 to take up the senior function however, following Newey’s arrival, is believed to have had basic disagreements with him on the route of the team’s growth and focus – maybe not stunning, given Cowell’s background is in energy models, whereas Newey’s is in aerodynamics.
Cowell thus discovered himself moved apart, together with his new duty falling within the space of energy unit integration.
“To be perfectly honest, it became very evident that, with the challenge of the ’26 PU, Andy’s skillset, in terms of helping the three-way relationship between Honda, Aramco, and ourselves, is absolutely his skillset,” Newey instructed Sky F1 following the change.
“So he very magnanimously volunteered to be heavily involved in that through the first part of ’26.”
Newey taking up the principal function was considerably stunning, given all the additional administrative and public-facing obligations it entails, with Newey identified for being a reluctant public determine and, as a substitute, preferring to concentrate on automotive efficiency and departmental optimisation.
But his self-appointment within the management function at all times had an air of the non permanent about it, and Newey did little to dispel that notion.
“That left [the question], ‘OK, well who’s going to be TP?’” he stated, emphasising that he was decided to not “dilute” his focus away from automotive design.
“Since I’m going to be doing all the early races anyway, it doesn’t actually particularly change my workload because I’m there anyway, so I may as well pick up that bit.”
Indeed, sources on the time of the change in administration construction indicated a hypothetical six-month timeline for Newey to tackle the function, and PlanetF1.com understands {that a} prolonged interval of analysis and negotiation with a number of candidates for the function has been underway since even earlier than final season’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
With Newey and chief technical officer Enrico Cardile, who arrived in August 2025 after serving gardening depart from Ferrari, discovering their toes on the head of the team’s technical construction, it’s understood that optimisation for the long run has been a key focus, after figuring out shifting priorities and differing instructions inside the organisation.
Several names are stated to have been approached for the function, together with former Aston Martin Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh. A former team principal at McLaren, he was accountable for overseeing the burgeoning Aston Martin Performance Technologies department, and he left the function for retirement in October ’24 following the arrival of Cowell.
GianPiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen’s race engineer and Red Bull’s head of racing, can be understood to have been approached, with Newey having detailed data of his strengths following years of working collectively on the Milton Keynes-based squad.
However, Lambiase is claimed to have turned down the chance and stays contentedly in his present function at Red Bull.
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Both senior administration figures at Audi, Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley, are additionally believed to have negotiated with Aston Martin and, whereas Binotto is claimed to have turned down a change, a proposal made to Wheatley is but to be addressed. Sources have advised that, whereas Wheatley is claimed to be very blissful together with his Audi principal function having swapped to Hinwil, private life issues may set off a want to return to residing within the UK.
A number one candidate is known to be former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl, whose identify has been linked with the function for months. He was most just lately the CEO of the Sauber Group, a task he departed within the second half of 2024.
Seidl is believed to be having fun with downtime away from Formula 1, however it’s understood that the German engineer is the popular choice for Aston Martin at this level, in addition to being the most definitely to be obtainable at shorter discover: at present employed names equivalent to Binotto and Wheatley would logically need to serve prolonged durations of gardening depart earlier than with the ability to be part of a rival.
The different identify that continues to be a possible risk is that of Christian Horner, the previous team principal and CEO of Red Bull.
Horner’s agreed interval of absence from Formula 1 is believed to come back to an finish within the coming months, which means he could possibly be obtainable to start out work by the point the European leg of the Formula 1 season begins.
Given that Stroll tempted Newey to hitch by the use of a minority shareholding, Horner’s want to return to F1 as a accomplice with fairness inside a team could possibly be fulfilled in related trend.
Horner is thought to be considered one of a number of events bidding for the 24 per cent stake within the Alpine F1 team at present owned by US funding firm Otro Capital, with one of many rival bidders understood to be a Mercedes effort spearheaded by Toto Wolff.
With the method of discovering a new team principal having commenced a number of months in the past, it’s unclear why the emptiness is but to be crammed. Sources have advised {that a} stumbling block could possibly be a searching for of assurances {that a} related consequence received’t befall a new rent as what occurred with Cowell, given Newey’s hands-on involvement and place within the firm hierarchy.
It is also considered as Aston Martin taking its time in making certain the fitting rent for the medium to long-term is secured, given the steadiness that Newey’s involvement presents to bridge the hole between Cowell and a future appointment.
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