The signing of Adrian Newey at Aston Martin has been a boon for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll as they say, but other F1 drivers have their say on it too.
The move from Newey to join Aston Martin from 2025 didn’t readily surprised a lot considering the might of Lawrence Stroll. But him leaving Red Bull after so many years was a surprising factor for many especially at a time when the F1 team was dominating.
For Aston Martin, it is most certainly a big signing and something that both Alonso and Stroll are happy about as drivers especially knowing about the 2026 change and the potential chance for the Silverstone-based team to do wonders in the F1 title fight.
They hope he will bring laurels in future. But the Red Bull pairing of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez are not thinking too far ahead about potential 2026 challenge. Of course, they would have liked to keep Newey at the team, but they stress it is just about one man.
It is a natural response, as they also downplay the link between Red Bull’s poor run co-inciding with Newey’s departure. The likes of Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton are not too disappointed that he is not coming to Ferrari in 2025 as such.
Leclerc has trust on Frederic Vasseur, while Hamilton stressed on the fact that he won his titles with McLaren and Mercedes without Newey. Joining the list on reflecting how good the Brit is were Daniel Ricciardo, Pierre Gasly and Alexander Albon – all who have worked with him.
Fernando Alonso: “Well, it has been a positive week, for sure, for the team with the announcement and yeah, he’s a great addition to the team. And probably, for me, what I think is that the Aston Martin team is the team of the future, in a way. We are just opening new buildings at the factory, the campus. Building 2 is finished. Wind tunnel will be January. Honda, Aramco, the best partners in the world, probably, and now Adrian as well. So, yeah, I think the team is taking shape and Lawrence’s vision is taking shape. So, yeah, good news this week. I texted him, for sure, like everybody did probably, that you know, wanted to work with him. And yeah, I saw him also at the Monaco Historic Grand Prix that he was racing that week as well and we spent you know, half an hour chatting as well. And I don’t know. I mean, we all tried to persuade him.
“And I think ultimately, I think Lawrence and as I said, his vision, the new factory and what Aston Martin wants for the future, together with Honda as well, were probably key factors listening to what Adrian said yesterday. I don’t think so [he will have that impact on 2025]. I would like to say yes, but honestly, I don’t think so. March ‘25, I think the focus for most of the teams will be ‘26 projects and the change of regulations. You start in March, until you know everybody, and you take you place in the factories it’s April or May. And I don’t think that it’s really worth spending too much in the ‘25 campaign, unless you are fighting for the championship… I hope we have a nice surprise, but I doubt it. So I think the ‘26 project should be the first car that he has an influence.”
Lance Stroll: “When he starts in the company, he’s going to get his hands involved in everything, so I think we’ll be seeing an impact from the day he steps foot in the office. It’s huge, it’s huge. It’s what we needed as a team, some opportunity for 2026 with the new regulation change to have someone like Adrian whose track record is next to none and to have him at Silverstone now, I think it’s definitely put a big smile on everyone’s face. I think everyone’s just really excited, yeah. I mean, like I said, he’s the best to do it. So, it’s really just, yeah, brought a skip in everyone’s step, so I am looking forward, especially like I said with the new regulation change, that’s what Adrian loves is a new challenge, a new set of regulations and I think that’s a big opportunity for us, for sure, in 2026.”
Max Verstappen: “I have no clue [about 2026 challenge]. These kind of things I don’t even think about. Because it’s not in my control. I have other worries at the moment that I’m busy with. And I try to fix and work on with the team that I’m driving with. That’s where our focus goes. To be honest, that’s fine [seeing him at Aston Martin base]. Adrian and I, we have a very good understanding. I sent him a message after the news came out – even though, of course, I knew that it was coming – so I’m happy for him. It’s a new challenge. Of course, I always said I would have loved him to stay, but at one point you cannot overturn these things, so then you’re just excited for people seeking new challenges.
“I also know that Lawrence, of course, is pushing flat out to make it a success with Aston Martin, so it’s quite understandable, of course, that he wants to have Adrian on his side. Our dip linked to Adrian? I wouldn’t say so. Of course, when it was announced that’s where it started to go a little bit wrong for us. But I think it already started to go wrong for us a long time before. But, we didn’t really see that at the time. I personally don’t think it’s related. That is not to be negative towards Adrian or whatever. But I definitely don’t see it as something that is related. But it’s something that creeped in over time.”
Sergio Perez: “I think obviously, Adrian will have a huge influence. We can guarantee that it definitely will be a strong package but to know if it is going to be the team to beat in 2026, I think it is just too early. We will see. It definitely will have a huge impact but knowing Lawrence, he is definitely building a strong team. Obviously, I wished that he remained at our team, but at the same time, Adrian is a good friend in the paddock. I wish him all the best because I know the passion he has for the sport and commitments, at the same time, Aston is a team that I like a lot and want to see them well in the future.
“I think definitely the last few races…or some decisions were certainly now know that we have been taking with the development of the car, that was going in the wrong direction. Like always, it is not a one-man show, we have very capable people in the team that have won so many races in the past, the structure is very string within Red Bull. Obviously, Adrian has a lot of influence, no question to it, but at the same time, we have got a great bunch of engineers back at Milton Keynes. As I said, I don’t think that it is down to one man, obviously he has a huge contribution to our team but it is more than that, it is not just the one man. Like I said, I still believe that we have a strong team.”
Charles Leclerc: “No, there are no disappointments in a way that we have. It’s not like we haven’t tried or haven’t spoken to Adrian. So, I know that there were talks. Then he made his decision. We respect his decision. And at the end, as Ferrari, we have always considered more the group than the actual individual. And of course, Adrian has done amazing things. But on our side, we’ve got an amazing group. And I have no doubts that going forward, we have an extremely strong team to come back at the top. And then, yeah, I mean, I’m really happy with the structure. And obviously, it’s Fred’s job to try and put the team in the best possible place to try and win races. And I 200% trust Fred. And I’m completely on board with his vision. So, it’s a continuous process of trying to improve Ferrari and to get better year after year. And we are in the middle of this process. But I’m super happy with the way he sees things and the things he does.”
Lewis Hamilton: “Honestly, no, I feel like whilst I mentioned before that it would be an honour to work with Adrian, I’ve been privileged to work with two championship-winning teams that didn’t have Adrian, for example. And I think probably any team would have been happy to have had him, but at the end of the day, he had to do what’s best for him. It doesn’t change anything for me or my goal or my focus with the next move. So I still believe 100 per cent that there’s lots that we can do.”
Daniel Ricciardo: “I don’t think I could give much advice to the most experienced guy on the grid. But look, obviously I enjoyed… I’ve spoken it before. I enjoyed a lot of my time with him. And it was just even a privilege, when I joined Red Bull Racing in 2014, just to drive one of his cars, work alongside him. Obviously, his level of expertise in his field and, you know, I would normally just feed back things. It’s not that I could stand toe to toe with him and speak his language, if you know what I mean.
“But it was just to try and obviously collaborate in those years and collaborate. give what I could and then let him obviously work his magic. That was just a very, very cool experience, you know, walking past the office, seeing the drawings and everything. I mean, it’s not for show. He’s there with pen on paper and yeah, just very, I’d say very unique, but very special way of working. And yeah, from that, it was just obviously a pleasure and a privilege. And obviously I don’t need to give Fernando any advice, but I’m sure it’ll be a enjoyable experience.”
Pierre Gasly: “Yeah, it is true. I mean, yeah, it was a very special six months working with him, you know. Very similar comments to Daniel. Obviously, he got the chance to work for a much longer time, but he’s one of the most successful car designers in our sport. And he’s got a very unique way of approaching racing, approaching design, because similar to Daniel, I would walk in the factory and see him in front of his board, drawing all sorts of stuff, which I could not even tell what was really going on there but ultimately, it just seems to work when it gets to the track. Very humble person, which I liked on a personal level. I always had great talks with him and always accessible, which was very enjoyable for the time we were working together.”
Alexander Albon: “I wasn’t so involved in the talks. But of course. Adrian would have been a great asset to have. He obviously chose Aston. I think it will be interesting to see what he can do with the team. Obviously, I know about working with Adrian. I know what it’s like to work with Adrian. Super, super nice guy. Very humble considering how successful he is. Very open-minded, which I think is what makes him so good. So I think he’s going to do well once he joins Aston.”
Here’s Adrian Newey, Lawrence Stroll on the Aston Martin move
Here’s Aston Martin announcing Adrian Newey
Here’s Fernando Alonso on raising the bar
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