Doubts over Adrian Newey's age and massive salary slammed as "ludicrous"

Former F1 team manager Peter Windsor feels Adrian Newey’s alleged £30 million-a-year contract with Aston Martin is entirely justified, amid suggestions that Lawrence Stroll is potentially overpaying for the Red Bull designer.

Aston Martin have formally announced the signing of Newey, confirming they’ve secured F1’s greatest technical genius.

Newey, responsible for multiple title-winning cars at Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull, will earn an eye-watering £30m per year, according to the BBC.

18 of the 20 F1 drivers on the 2024 grid, aside from Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, will earn less than the 65-year-old.

Windsor, who worked with Newey at Williams in 1991, believes it’s “ludicrous” to question his age and the amount of money Aston Martin are reportedly going to pay him to join the Silverstone outfit.

“I don’t think the 65-year-old is relevant because I know Adrian well enough to know that he wouldn’t be doing any work if he didn’t feel capable of delivering and that takes into account his age, his motivation, his health and everything else,” Windsor said on the Cameron CC YouTube channel. 

“For anybody to question that is ludicrous.

“He’s worth a lot more money than that and again  anybody who thinks he should not be paid as much as a Grand Prix driver doesn’t understand the sport.

“As we’ve said a million times, It’s basically 60% car and 40% driver, and if you don’t have a decent car then you’re never going to win races. If you’ve got a great car, you’re going to win a lot of grand prix.”

Windsor believes Newey is a justified investment, citing the income you’d generate with F1 title success.

“Adrian is definitely worth all that and I suspect a lot more,” Windsor added.

“If Ferrari had spent €1bn (£800m) five years ago on Newey and had since won four drivers’ championships and four constructors’, they would have got that €1b (£800m) back easily.

“And all this money being bandied about, you have to be very sceptical about it anyway. Why would Adrian tell anybody how much he’s earning? 

"Why would the Stroll family tell anybody he’s earning? Why would they do that? Anybody with any sort of presence doesn’t talk about how much they’re earning so it’s all internet nonsense.”