F1 fans torn after Aston Martin confirms Adrian Newey as team principal

Formula 1 fans seem divided after Aston Martin confirmed Adrian Newey as the team principal from 2026

Formula 1 fans seem torn after Aston Martin announced that Adrian Newey will become the team principal from 2026, alongside his other duties as managing technical partner.

Newey will replace Andy Cowell in the role, with Cowell becoming the chief strategy officer.

“Over the last nine months, I have seen great individual talent within our team,” Newey said. “I’m looking forward to taking on this additional role as we put ourselves in the best possible position to compete in 2026, where we will face an entirely new position with Aston Martin now a works team combined with the considerable challenge faced by the new regulations.

“Andy’s new role, focusing on the integration of the new PU with our three key partners, will be pivotal in this journey.”

While the overall reaction from fans has been positive, some have raised concerns that the former Red Bull technical director could be spreading himself too thin.

"Newey focusing on both building a car and managing a team. Can either go well or end up like Binotto when he was focused on both for Ferrari, especially in 2022. Just because someone is a brilliant engineer doesn’t mean they can lead a full team," one fan wrote on Reddit.

Another responded: "Exactly. I doubt he can do both. If AM wanted him to improve the car they can’t promote him to team principal. While he can oversee the engineering, he needs to now take over 90% other tasks that has nothing to do with engineering. But maybe that is why he switched to AM to try other roles."

Adrian Newey, Chief Technical Officer of Aston Martin F1

Photo by: Aston Martin

Someone else dismissed the concerns, posting: "Nah, as Chief Technical Officer he was already responsible for about half the total team, it's not like was just left to his own devices in a design workshop, he was directing a team of hundreds of technical experts. He is intimately familiar with the sport and has extensive experience in senior management. There will be other people on the team to help him out with the non-technical side."

"Damn, that's either going to be exceptional or exceptionally disappointing," another fan posted, while another added: "That seems like a bad move. Wouldn't you want Newey to be fully focused on designing the car instead of distracting his focus with TP work?"

The announcement came after rumours linking former Red Bull Racing CEO and team principal Christian Horner to the role. "Newey heard rumours of Horner coming in and said, 'F*** it, I'll do it myself,'" one fan joked.

"He didn’t go through all this effort just to end up with Horner as his boss again," another added.

Aston Martin currently sits eighth in the constructors' standings on 72 points with two rounds remaining in the 2025 season.