‘It became very clear and obvious’ – Newey on his Aston Martin move and teaming up with ‘arch-enemy’ Alonso

It was abundantly clear from Tuesday’s press conference at Aston Martin that F1’s leading designer Adrian Newey remains as passionate and excited about the sport as ever – even after a 44-year career that has yielded 25 world titles so far.

When he decided he needed a change from Red Bull – where he had spent nearly two decades – the 65-year-old could have headed off into a well-earned retirement, spending the rest of his years sailing around on his yacht.

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But after some time to reflect, he realised he still had the itch to pick up his pencil, prop up his drawing board on the stand and let his genius mind sketch away.

“When I decided to stop with Red Bull, at that point in time, I genuinely had no idea what I was going to do next,” he said when we chatted exclusively after the news was announced. “So, Amanda my wife decided let’s just have a bit of a break!

“I was hoping at some point in time, I’d be standing in the shower and have a moment of inspiration – ‘yep let’s go in that direction’. That didn’t happen, it was a much slower process.

“We decided that I’d get bored doing nothing, and if I was going to stay in man and machine sport, I’d stay in Formula 1. It was then about which team.”

He had no shortage of interested parties. Ferrari were keen. So were Aston Martin and Williams. Audi were interested too – while Alpine made a late bid. Newey was in demand and had some big decisions to make.

“I was honoured enough to be approached by various teams but in the end, Lawrence’s passion and enthusiasm and commitment, offer of partnership and shareholding, it just became very clear and obvious.”

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'Skin in the game'

It was that offer of a partnership and shareholding that proved so enticing to Newey. He’d held the most senior technical role that existed in F1 when he was Chief Technical Officer at Red Bull.

Lawrence Stroll gave him more, essentially in the shape of a blank piece of paper where he could craft his own title – and have more seniority than anyone else other than Stroll.

By becoming Managing Technical Partner, Newey has climbed the career ladder into a realm he had long targeted but never previously had the chance to realise, despite huge contributions to Williams, McLaren and most recently Red Bull – a seat at the highest table.

Make no mistake, though. This isn’t about vanity. Newey is a modest and humble guy who prefers to stay away from the media spotlight and believes it’s a team effort rather than that of an individual.

READ MORE: Newey shares the key factors that attracted him to Aston Martin amid interest from other F1 teams

This is about freedom and boundary-less creativity. In taking this role, Newey can talk directly to the boss to streamline decision-making. They can – and will – take decisions together. It’ll be efficient and effective.

“There’s that phrase skin in the game, and having a shareholding and partnership makes you feel much more that you do have skin in the game,” he added. “It’s really the fact that if you go back to 20 years ago, at that point, Formula 1 teams were mainly – the team principal was the owner and very active – Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan etc.

“Now Lawrence is the only active team owner and that is a different relationship compared to having a more distant corporate owner. It means everything is very direct, you can make immediate decisions.

“It was something we very much had at Red Bull with [owner] Dietrich Mateschitz and it allows you to be very quick on your feet. Lawrence’s commitment is very endearing and obvious – and it just feels like he’s more than happy to put all his chips on black and give it everything – and that’s very admirable.”

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The challenge ahead

That freedom will be critical if Aston Martin are to be successful. Yes, they have the best facility in Formula 1 – but having it is one thing, making the most of it is another. The wind tunnel doesn’t come online until the end of the year and will then need calibration.

Then add in that the team will have a works power unit supply for the first time with Honda coming onboard. Getting to know the Japanese manufacturer and how they work will take time, though Newey’s recent successful experience with them at Red Bull will certainly help.

And as if that’s not enough change, Aston Martin will have to produce their own gearbox and suspension (they used to take those parts from Mercedes as part of a technical partnership that included the German manufacturer’s engines) in-house and knit that together with the rest of the chassis and the integration with a new power unit.

But this is the kind of challenge Newey is relishing – and another big reason why he chose this project.

He also finally gets to work with one of the two drivers he had previously said he was keen to work with – Fernando Alonso (Lewis Hamilton – who joins Ferrari next year, another team Newey spoke to – being the other) 15 years after they almost teamed up at Red Bull.

READ MORE: Hunger, ingenuity and modesty – How ‘Einstein of F1’ Newey helped transform Red Bull’s fortunes

“I’ve made no secret of the fact there are two drivers I’d love to work with – Fernando and of course Lewis,” added Newey. “I couldn’t do both so I had to make that decision.”

He added: “Fernando, of course, we’ve battled against each other for so many years and he’s been a bit of a, kind of an arch-enemy at times.

“We came so close to him joining Red Bull in 2008 for the 2009 season, but unfortunately it didn’t quite happen, which was a great shame. So, we continued to battle against each other! He’s a legend of the sport, so I’m very much looking forward to working with him.”

'It takes time, it takes commitment'

It's significant that Newey will be attacking this project full-time, appearing five-days a week in an office he hopes will be right in the thick of it.

There’ll be no side projects, like he had at Red Bull. No distractions. Everything will be focused on making Aston Martin world champions. That means spending time getting to know everyone, understanding how they work – and being there to bounce ideas around.

READ MORE: An innovator and trendsetter – Adrian Newey's greatest F1 contributions

“Moving teams is always a big commitment, to try to understand how everybody works, to engage with them, to kind of be involved in shaping things if necessary,” said Newey. “It takes time, it takes commitment. So, yes of course, to start with, once I start, then I’ll be fully in – I need to be, I have to be.”

First though, having been involved constantly in motor racing for more than four decades, Newey is off on holiday to unwind and recharge so that when March rolls around – “I’m fully rested and raring to go.”

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