It’s rare that a transfer story not involving a driver gains this much attention, but Adrian Newey is no ordinary team member. After having masterminded the design of cars that won 13 drivers’ and 12 constructors’ titles, Adrian Newey was always going to be in demand when it was confirmed he would be departing Red Bull after 18 years.
But that news came with a clutch of ‘will he/won’t hes’. Will he go to Ferrari? Will he pack it in altogether? For Newey, it didn’t take long for the latter to be banished from the equation.
“I decided to stop at Red Bull, which was kind of over the Suzuka weekend, back in April. Then I genuinely had no idea what would be next,” he said during the announcement of his move to Aston Martin Racing. “I just wanted to have a blank mind, kind of take stock, enjoy a bit of a break, and was hoping that standing in a shower somewhere, the spark would come and [I’d] think ‘this should be the direction’. And Mandy (Newey’s wife) was a big part of that as well, of our discussions on what should we do. I think she was probably worried that I would drive her a bit mad if I was home too much.
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“I think come late June that I felt, ‘actually, you know what? To be involved as a designer in motor racing has been my ambition since the age of 10 or so, I’ve been lucky enough to achieve that’. I think it would be an exaggeration to say that I’ve enjoyed every single day of my career, but well over 90 percent has been hugely enjoyable. I still love the challenge of trying to add performance to the car, that’s my kind of prime motivation, that’s what gets me up in the morning. I think what’s amazing about technical sport, if you like – and by technical sport I mean a combination of man and machine – is that you have that immediate feedback of how you’re doing. It can be painful, of course, when you’re doing badly, but you can have that feedback.
“And if I compare that back to those of my friends I still keep in contact from university, from my aeronautics course, they went on to work for British Aerospace, Rolls Royce engines and so forth, and they had no feedback. I didn’t realize it at the time, of course, but I’d chose as one of my aspirations to work in this man and machine sport. And if you then say, ‘what’s the pinnacle of man and machine,’ clearly it’s Formula 1. Yes, I remain interested in America’s Cup, I remain interested in many other things, but if I’m going to stay in ‘man and machine’, I might as well keep going at the pinnacle for as long as people want me.”
Newey says that Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin’s executive chairman was a key factor in him deciding to go with Aston Martin, pointing to the Canadian’s involvement in the team being akin to team bosses in the past.
“I was very flattered to have a lot of approaches from various teams, but really Lawrence’s passion and commitment and enthusiasm was very endearing, it’s very persuasive,” he said. “The reality is if you go back 20 years, what we now call team principals were actually the owners of the teams – Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan, etc. In this modern era, Lawrence is actually unique in being the only properly active team owner.
“And that does bring a different feeling when you have someone like Lawrence involved like that, it’s back to the old school modelling. To have the chance to be a shareholder and a partner is something that hasn’t been offered to me before. So it’s a slightly different slant, it’s one I’m very much looking forward to. It became a very natural choice.”
Since taking over the former Force India team in 2018, Stroll has embarked on an impressive regeneration program, which has delivered a raft of high profile on- and off-track signings, as well as a new factory, which will be complemented with a new wind tunnel later this year.
“I think what Lawrence and Martin (Whitmarsh, the team’s outgoing group CEO) have built here… these facilities are just stunning,” Newey said. “It’s not an easy thing to do, to build a brand new factory on a new site and have a really nice, warm creative feel to it. Because after all, that’s what we’re here for is to be creative and to come up with good solutions particularly with good communication between everyone that works here.
“I’ve seen some new buildings which haven’t quite fulfilled that, but this one has a great feel. The proportions are right, it has all the facilities, so you’re absolutely right, I’m so looking forward to starting, to getting to know everybody here and to go from there.
“The building is clearly mightily impressive, and has a great feel to it. It’s a real demonstration of Lawrence’s commitment and vision for where he wants the team to get to. I don’t know how much it cost, but it’s not going to be cheap.”
For Stroll’s part, the revitalization has been an expensive one. Newey’s addition to that revolution reportedly didn’t come cheap either, with his salary reportedly set to rival those of multiple world champion drivers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. But Stroll has no qualms about the cost.
“I can tell you Adrian is a bargain,” Stroll asserted. “(I’ve) been in business for over 40 years now, and I’ve never been more certain. It’s not an investment, he’s a shareholder and a partner. He’s the best partner I can bring into a company. We intend to be around here a very long time together. It’s relatively inexpensive for everything Adrian brings in a partnership we will have.
“It’s hard to understand, comprehend or try to explain these three spectacular buildings if you don’t visit. It’s a very big part of our tool, to make us a championship team. We certainly couldn’t have been a championship team with our old tool.
“This had to be built again to show our intent, our vision, and to win. So getting Adrian here, I think, was critically important.”