Horner describes Aston’s Newey announcement as ‘premature’

Christian Horner has commented that, while news of Adrian Newey’s future move to Aston Martin did not come as “a great surprise”, he feels the announcement was “slightly premature” given the design guru is still employed by Red Bull.

Aston Martin announced earlier this week that Newey – whose cars have won 25 world titles and more than 200 Grands Prix – will join the team as their Managing Technical Partner in early 2025, following his exit from Red Bull.

With 13 of those titles and more than half of those wins coming across an almost two-decade stint at the Milton Keynes outfit, Horner was asked for his reaction to the development and what Aston Martin will gain from his arrival.

“Well, it wasn’t a great surprise,” began the Red Bull team boss. “I think it was becoming clearer and clearer that was the route that he was going to go rather than into retirement or any other team. Obviously it’ll be a new challenge for him.

SILVERSTONE, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 10: Adrian Newey, Managing Technical Partner, Aston Martin F1 — Newey was presented by Aston Martin at their Silverstone headquarters on Tuesday

“We’ll be sad to see it when he leaves next year, but we wish him all the best for the future. I look back with great fondness, the 20 years almost that we spent together, the highs and lows during that period. But we look forward to the future and I think we’re well positioned for that.”

He continued: “Adrian is obviously a very creative guy and he’s not your average designer. I think he’s the only person still in F1 working on a drawing board.

“Inevitably there will be a process of having to get to know each other [at Aston Martin], how each other work and so on, but he’s unique in many respects. I think that Aston will obviously look to draw upon his huge experience.”

Horner was then pushed on the nature of Newey’s unveiling by Aston Martin, which involved staff and media gathering at their Silverstone headquarters for a high-profile presentation led by team owner Lawrence Stroll.

Horner: Newey’s Aston Martin unveiling ‘slightly premature’

While Newey has stepped back from F1 duties at Red Bull, he remains contracted to the outfit for several more months and is still involved in delivering their RB17 hypercar – which was presented to the world earlier this year.

“It’s obviously a massive announcement for Aston – perhaps slightly premature considering he’s still contracted to Red Bull until the early part of next year,” added Horner.

“I can understand that they’re excited about Adrian joining their team, but in the meantime he’s still got an RB17 to finish. That’s going really well and making good progress.”

As well as taking on the role of Managing Technical Partner at Aston Martin, Newey will become a shareholder in the F1 team, with Stroll describing him as the “the biggest part of the puzzle” in their quest to become world champions.