Aston Martin told about “problem they’ve got” with “ruthless” Adrian Newey
“If you do win? Then it’s all about Adrian Newey."
Adrian Newey might bring undisputed genius to Aston Martin, but Martin Brundle has pointed out some potential issues that will also arrive.
Aston Martin have unveiled Newey as their new Managing Technical Partner, a major coup in the never-ending off-track development war.
But extracting the abilities which have enabled Newey to oversee 12 constructors’ titles and 13 drivers’ titles is not an easy task, they have been warned.
“That’s a big challenge for a team,” Brundle told Sky Sports.
“If you’ve got Adrian Newey on board, and you don’t win? Then you’ve wasted Adrian Newey.
“If you do win? Then it’s all about Adrian Newey.
“It’s a problem they’ve got to manage. Red Bull have been extremely good at using the genius of Adrian, and compartmentalising other aspects to make sure that they get the best from him.
“Adrian is 66 years old on Boxing Day. He has a huge amount of success behind him.
“I’m sure this is his last roll of the dice with a big team, and he’ll want it to be a success.
“You can be sure that, for big picture stuff, he’s the man you want looking at it.
“Aston Martin, like other teams, have a long way north of 1,000 people and you need to keep them incentivised. They don’t want to be bit-part players.
“It’s a delicate operation to introduce Adrian into a team like that.
“But he’s worked with Honda while at Red Bull so will be helpful on that front. So will Andy Cowell, the ex-Mercedes man who is becoming CEO.
“He’ll have something in his head already about the really massive change of aerodynamics that go with the new power units of 2026.
“I’d be sure that, for big picture stuff, he’ll have critical ideas. He’ll just knock something in, here and there, that will make the difference.
“Also, he’s ruthless. If Adrian wants something, he’ll get it. Even if it seems impossible time-wise or budget-wise, he will persist until he gets what he knows is right.
“That’s why you need a team of some might to make the best use of him.”
Newey will start work at Silverstone in March 2025, giving him time to oversee the direction of Aston Martin’s 2026 car.
Team owner Lawrence Stroll has admitted they will spend next year focusing on 2026 when the new F1 rules kick in.
But Newey’s brilliance will also bring new problems which Aston Martin must be agile enough to solve, they have been warned by Brundle.
