Lance Stroll says Adrian Newey is \u201ca great leader\u201d with the Aston Martin team principal \u201cobsessed\u201d with bringing more performance to the AMR26 car.<\/p>\n
It comes after PlanetF1.com revealed this week that Newey is leading the search for his successor as Aston Martin boss.<\/p>\n
Lance Stroll: Adrian Newey \u2018a great leader\u2019 at Aston Martin<\/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 Newey was installed as Aston Martin team principal late last year as the legendary designer took a team management role for the first time in his illustrious career.<\/p>\n The 67-year-old has overseen Aston Martin\u2019s troubled start to the F1 2026 season, which has seen the team hamstrung by severe vibrations with its new Honda power unit.<\/p>\n PlanetF1.com reported on Wednesday<\/a> that Aston Martin is actively looking to appoint a new team principal with Newey, who had previously hinted at his appointment being only a short-term measure, leading the search.<\/p>\n Go deeper: Why Aston Martin\u2019s slow start to F1 2026 should come as no surprise<\/p>\n Adrian Newey admits Aston Martin \u2018started from behind\u2019 with AMR26 development<\/a><\/p>\n Aston Martin AMR26: What we\u2019re hearing about Adrian Newey\u2019s first Aston Martin<\/a><\/p>\n PlanetF1.com understands that former McLaren team principals Andreas Seidl and Martin Whitmarsh, Max Verstappen\u2019s long-serving race engineer GianPiero Lambiase and Audi F1 bosses Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley have all being approached over recent months.<\/p>\n It is believed that Wheatley, who previously worked alongside Newey at Red Bull, is Newey\u2019s prime target for the role due to his skillset and personality type.<\/p>\n Sources have indicated to PlanetF1.com that Wheatley, who officially took up the position of Audi F1 team principal less than a year ago, is very happy with his current role at the Swiss-based team.<\/p>\n However, personal considerations could influence a desire to return to living in the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n In a statement to PlanetF1.com on Thursday, Aston Martin said: \u201cThe team will not be engaging in media speculation about its senior leadership team.<\/p>\n \u201cAdrian Newey continues to lead the team as Team Principal and Managing Technical Partner.\u201d<\/p>\n Stroll recently offered a glowing endorsement of Newey\u2019s \u201cinspiring\u201d leadership style, revealing that the veteran designer is \u201cjust obsessed\u201d with adding more performance.<\/p>\n He told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: \u201cHe\u2019s all about performance, bringing performance to the car.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s just obsessed about how we can bring more performance to the car and he\u2019s a great leader overall, I think, just trying to extract from the most from everyone in their individual positions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s inspiring to be a part of that and a privilege to work alongside him, for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n Shortly after his appointment as team principal last November, Newey remarked that he was keen to ensure that his new responsibilities did not detract from his design-and-development commitments.<\/p>\n Newey\u2019s absence from last weekend\u2019s Chinese Grand Prix raised eyebrows on social media after he said last year that he would be attending \u201call the early races\u201d in 2026.<\/p>\n As reported by PlanetF1.com earlier this week<\/a>, Newey never planned to attend the race in China with it thought to have been important for him to lead technical decisions at the factory following a challenging season opener for Aston Martin in Australia.<\/p>\n PlanetF1.com understands that Newey\u2019s current schedule as team principal will see him attend between 10 and 14 races of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n Newey\u2019s schedule is thought to be similar to that of his immediate predecessor Andy Cowell.<\/p>\n PlanetF1.com revealed last month that Cowell is set to leave Aston Martin in June<\/a>.<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Mat Coch and Thomas Maher<\/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