Star F1 designer Adrian Newey will become Aston Martin’s new F1 team principal from the start of 2026.
After 19 years with Red Bull, Newey moved to Aston Martin last year as the team’s managing technical partner, and he’s overseen the design of the new 2026 car. For the first time in his career, Newey, who turns 67 this December, will now take on the role of team principal. As part of his revised role, he’ll be guiding Aston Martin’s technical team, including the trackside operations of the car.
Current Aston Martin F1 CEO and team principal Andy Cowell will instead take on a new role as chief strategy officer.
- Newey to become F1 team principal for the first time
- Will assume new role from the start of 2026
Newey replacing Cowell as Aston Martin team principal
Cowell to help optimise Aston Martin’s technical partnership with Honda, Aramco and Valvoline
2026 will usher in a new era for Formula 1, with all-new cars. There will be plenty of changes within Aston Martin as well, with the team switching from Mercedes to Honda power. This means that for the first time, Aston Martin will operate as a full-fledged works team. In light of all this, Aston Martin has decided to implement what it calls “much-needed structural changes”.
Interestingly, rather than the usual team principal duties, Aston Martin’s statement suggests Newey will essentially be in charge of the technical team. Cowell, meanwhile, will focus on the integration of the new power unit with Aston Martin’s three key partners – Honda, Aramco and Valvoline.
Aston Martin’s executive chairman, Lawrence Stroll, explained that these changes have been made to ensure that “the team is best placed to play to their collective strengths”. He also added that Newey’s new team principal role will “enable him to make full use of his creative and technical expertise”.
“Over the last nine months, I have seen great individual talent within our team. 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,” said Newey.