Fernando Alonso has given his first public reaction to the news Adrian Newey will be Aston Martin F1 team principal from 2026 as he replaces Andy Cowell.
In quite surprising news revealed on Wednesday, Aston Martin confirmed that the legendary British designer would take the reigns from Andy Cowell. The former head of Mercedes’ F1 engine project has taken on the role of chief strategy officer.
Fernando Alonso admits he did not have any idea Adrian Newey wanted to be a team principal
Following his departure from Red Bull Racing in the first half of 2024, Newey officially started at Aston Martin in March as managing technical partner. The Race reported about disagreements between Cowell and Newey during the Las Vegas weekend, hence the changes in position for the pair.
Speaking on Thursday ahead of the F1 Qatar GP in a print media session, Fernando Alonso believes the change was quite logical at the top of Aston Martin as Adrian Newey was already doing plenty of management on the technical side of the team.
“Not really [any indication about Newey’s interest in becoming a team boss].
“We were discussing more technical stuff about the card than any other thing or future dreams. It’s good news.
“He was managing the technical development of the car, but also the team, the people that were needed, taking care of which areas we needed to reinforce as a team, which other areas were less important.
“In a way, he was doing internally a lot of management, and Andy was doing a lot of management as well on the engine side and engine integration to the chassis. It was maybe a normal, logic step into 2026.
“We have probably the two best people doing the chassis and the team, the engine integration and the team as well.
“We have a very strong leader with Lawrence, with the determination that Lawrence has and the commitment that he’s shown for many, many years already. Between the three of them, I think we are in good hands.
“Let’s move into 2026 with hopefully a better car.”
Extracting every bit of performance and looking for perfection: Fernando Alonso on what he expects from Adrian Newey as Aston Martin F1 team principal
Following the departure of Otmar Szafnauer in January of 2022, Aston Martin have been going through team bosses at a quick rate of knots. Mike Krack and Andy Cowell have had relatively short spells, with Adrian Newey now taking over. Krack and Cowell remain at the team presently, of course.
Asked what leadership style he expects from Adrian Newey next year, the two-time F1 World Champion says maximum performance and perfection will be his focus, just like it has been throughout his extraordinarily successful career in the sport.
Alongside Newey’s remarkable success at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull as a designer in the 1990s, 2010s and early 2020s, Andy Cowell was a hugely instrumental figure in Mercedes’ dominance of the sport in the 2010s. He was Managing Director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains as they came out with a hugely superior engine once the V6s arrived in 2014.
Fernando Alonso is very happy and clearly excited at the prospect of the roles they will have next year at Aston Martin.
“I think with Adrian, there is only one style, which is performance.
“There is no other word. There is just the unlimited search for performance and perfection. Great competitor, great leader.
“I think the whole team, which is not that we are not into the performance direction now, but I think with Adrian, it will be even more extreme. If we can embrace that approach from everybody, we cannot forget this team is still very new.
“The base of the team is 300 people or whatever of the old days and now the team grew up so quickly in the last two or three years. A lot of our employees are new to the sport, are young, energetic people.
“We need the guidance of Adrian or these great leaders that we have to teach them what is the way to succeed in Formula 1.
“We have the two most successful individuals ever in the sport, Andy Cowell and Adrian Newey.”
