Aston Martin is seeking a new team principal to work alongside Adrian Newey to strengthen its top-level management.<\/p>\n
The process of finding a new team principal is said to have begun in late 2025, commencing upon Newey\u2019s assumption of the team principal position to succeed Andy Cowell.<\/p>\n
Adrian Newey leads Aston Martin team principal search<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust.<\/p>\n Adrian Newey is at the forefront of Aston Martin\u2019s search for a new team principal, PlanetF1.com can reveal, with the 67-year-old leading the squad\u2019s evaluation of the market over recent months \u2013 even before the switch that saw him replace Andy Cowell, and long before the realisation of its current on-track struggles.<\/p>\n Newey stepped into the team principal role at Aston Martin in November 2025, eight months after starting work at Lawrence Stroll\u2019s squad as managing technical partner. Crucially, Newey had been tempted by a minority shareholding, placing him above any existing management in the company\u2019s hierarchy.<\/p>\n Cowell, who had been the team boss at Aston Martin<\/a>, had been tempted out of a years-long sabbatical from F1 to take up the senior role but, following Newey\u2019s arrival, is believed to have had fundamental disagreements with him on the direction of the team\u2019s development and focus \u2013 perhaps not surprising, given Cowell\u2019s background is in power units, while Newey\u2019s is in aerodynamics.<\/p>\n Cowell thus found himself moved aside, with his new responsibility falling in the area of power unit integration.<\/p>\n \u201cTo be perfectly honest, it became very evident that, with the challenge of the \u201926 PU, Andy\u2019s skillset, in terms of helping the three-way relationship between Honda, Aramco, and ourselves, is absolutely his skillset,\u201d Newey told Sky F1 following the switch.<\/p>\n \u201cSo he very magnanimously volunteered to be heavily involved in that through the first part of \u201926.\u201d<\/p>\n Newey taking over the principal role was somewhat surprising, given all the extra administrative and public-facing responsibilities it entails, with Newey known for being a reluctant public figure and, instead, preferring to focus on car performance and departmental optimisation.<\/p>\n But his self-appointment in the leadership role always had an air of the temporary about it, and Newey did little to dispel that notion.<\/p>\n \u201cThat left [the question], \u2018OK, well who\u2019s going to be TP?\u2019\u201d he said, emphasising that he was determined not to \u201cdilute\u201d his focus away from car design.<\/p>\n \u201cSince I\u2019m going to be doing all the early races anyway, it doesn\u2019t actually particularly change my workload because I\u2019m there anyway, so I may as well pick up that bit.\u201d<\/p>\n Indeed, sources at the time of the change in management structure indicated a hypothetical six-month timeline for Newey to take on the role, and PlanetF1.com understands that a lengthy period of evaluation and negotiation with several candidates for the role has been underway since even before last season\u2019s Las Vegas Grand Prix.<\/p>\n With Newey and chief technical officer Enrico Cardile, who arrived in August 2025 after serving gardening leave from Ferrari, finding their feet at the head of the team\u2019s technical structure, it\u2019s understood that optimisation for the future has been a key focus, after identifying shifting priorities and differing directions within the organisation.<\/p>\n Several names are said to have been approached for the role, including former Aston Martin Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh. A former team principal at McLaren, he was responsible for overseeing the burgeoning Aston Martin Performance Technologies branch, and he left the role for retirement in October \u201924 following the arrival of Cowell.<\/p>\n GianPiero Lambiase, Max Verstappen\u2019s race engineer and Red Bull\u2019s head of racing, is also understood to have been approached, with Newey having detailed knowledge of his strengths following years of working together at the Milton Keynes-based squad.<\/p>\n However, Lambiase is said to have turned down the opportunity and remains contentedly in his current role at Red Bull.<\/p>\n More on Aston Martin and Adrian Newey<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso was losing feeling in \u2018hands and feet\u2019 before Chinese GP retirement<\/a><\/p>\n Aston Martin sets record straight over Adrian Newey Chinese GP absence<\/a><\/p>\n Both senior management figures at Audi, Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley, are also believed to have negotiated with Aston Martin and, while Binotto is said to have turned down a switch, an offer made to Wheatley is yet to be addressed. Sources have suggested that, while Wheatley is said to be very happy with his Audi principal role having swapped to Hinwil, personal life considerations could trigger a desire to return to living in the UK.<\/p>\n A leading candidate is understood to be former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl, whose name has been linked with the role for months. He was most recently the CEO of the Sauber Group, a role he departed in the second half of 2024.<\/p>\n Seidl is believed to be enjoying downtime away from Formula 1, but it\u2019s understood that the German engineer is the preferred option for Aston Martin at this point, as well as being the most likely to be available at shorter notice: currently employed names such as Binotto and Wheatley would logically have to serve extended periods of gardening leave before being able to join a rival.<\/p>\n The other name that remains a potential possibility is that of Christian Horner, the former team principal and CEO of Red Bull.<\/p>\n Horner\u2019s agreed period of absence from Formula 1 is believed to come to an end in the coming months, meaning he could be available to start work by the time the European leg of the Formula 1 season begins.<\/p>\n Given that Stroll tempted Newey to join by way of a minority shareholding, Horner\u2019s desire to return to F1 as a partner with equity within a team could be fulfilled in similar fashion.<\/p>\n Horner is known to be one of several parties bidding for the 24 per cent stake in the Alpine F1 team currently owned by US investment company Otro Capital, with one of the rival bidders understood to be a Mercedes effort spearheaded by Toto Wolff.<\/p>\n With the process of finding a new team principal having commenced several months ago, it\u2019s unclear why the vacancy is yet to be filled. Sources have suggested that a stumbling block could be a seeking of assurances that a similar outcome won\u2019t befall a new hire as what happened with Cowell, given Newey\u2019s hands-on involvement and position in the company hierarchy.<\/p>\n It could also be viewed as Aston Martin taking its time in ensuring the right hire for the medium to long-term is secured, given the stability that Newey\u2019s involvement offers to bridge the gap between Cowell and a future appointment.<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n