Aston Martin’s “constant change” criticised as damaging team culture amid 2026 F1 struggles
Will Buxton has criticised Aston Martin’s frequent leadership changes, warning that the instability is damaging the team’s culture and long-term direction
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing, Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Clive Rose / Formula 1 via Getty Images
The "constant change" at Aston Martin has come under the scrutiny of former F1 TV presenter Will Buxton, who claimed that it is 'not doing the culture of the team any good'.
In 2024, Andy Cowell joined the Silverstone outfit as Group CEO before he replaced Mike Krack in the role of team principal in January 2025. Cowell's tenure in the team chief position lasted less than a year. Adrian Newey, who had joined the team as managing technical partner in 2025, took on the team principal duties in addition to his role for the 2026 season.
Cowell has since moved to the role of chief strategy officer and Krack serves as chief trackside officer.
Now, after a troublesome start to the 2026 season, there have been rumours that Lawrence Stroll could employ a new team principal to allow Newey to focus on his other responsibilities. Aston Martin has denied these rumours at this stage.
"It feels like a football club," Buxton said during the Up To Speed podcast. "It feels like a football club that was bought by a Russian oligarch in the '90s, 2000s, that just threw money at a problem, changed manager every six months."
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
He added: "I know that Lawrence Stroll wants to see results.
"And he wants to see them now. But turning things around in Formula 1 is like turning around a ship and you need that little tugboat at the front to pull it around and point it in the right direction. And that takes time. You cannot just shift things overnight.
"And I just feel like these constant changes every couple of months, it's not doing the overall culture of the team or the ultimate direction of travel any good at all because you don't have a clear focus on direction if you keep trying to change it. I just don't see how this benefits anything."
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