Fans are highly skeptical about Newey’s new role as team principal and designer – Fernando Alonso defends the radical restructuring as a quest for perfection
It’s an experiment that others have failed at, but Adrian Newey is determined to prove the opposite: Starting in the 2026 season, the star designer at Aston Martin will not only serve as technical partner, but will also take on the role of team principal. This dual role is rare in modern Formula 1 and brings back memories of Mattia Binotto’s time at Ferrari.
But how exactly does the 66-year-old intend to manage a Formula 1 team while ensuring that the development of the 2026 car does not suffer under the new regulations? Newey himself takes a pragmatic view of the situation, emphasizing that the restructuring is primarily the result of a logical division of responsibilities with the current team principal, Andy Cowell.
Newey has clear priorities
In an interview with Sky Sports F1, Newey dismisses concerns that he could get bogged down. His heart still beats primarily for technology. “That’s really what I want to do and what I have to do,” Newey clarifies with regard to car design. “That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. So I’m determined not to water that down.”
The fact that he now also holds the title of team principal is more of an organizational consequence than a complete reorientation of his daily work. “Since I’ll be at all the early races anyway, it doesn’t really change my workload much, as I’ll be there anyway,” explains the Briton. “So I might as well take on that part too – apart from having to talk to you [the media], of course.”
Why Cowell is voluntarily stepping aside
The key to this reshuffle lies in the complex integration of new factory partner Honda from 2026. Andy Cowell, who recently joined Aston Martin, will move to the position of Chief Strategy Officer. According to Newey, this was Cowell’s own wish in order to better leverage his strengths.
“To be perfectly honest, it became very obvious that Andy’s skills were absolutely needed in view of the challenge of the 2026 power unit and supporting the three-way relationship between Honda, Aramco, and us,” said Newey. Cowell “generously” agreed to head up this area, leaving the position of team principal vacant. “And I was the logical answer.”
Alonso and Verstappen see “new trend”
Fernando Alonso, who is set to benefit from this structure from 2026, sees the dual role as an advantage for performance. “Andy has done a lot of management work internally, including on the engine side. It was perhaps a normal logical step,“ says the Spaniard. For him, one thing is certain: ”With Adrian, there is only one style, and that is performance. It is the unlimited pursuit of perfection.”
World champion Max Verstappen, who is very familiar with Newey’s way of working at Red Bull, also believes in the success of the model. He even sees it as a development that could set a precedent in Formula 1—similar to McLaren with Andrea Stella. “That’s probably something you’ll see more and more teams doing, right? Someone who is more technically oriented taking on the role of team principal,” Verstappen analyzes. Although this was “never an option” at Red Bull, he is convinced: “I’m sure he’ll do well.”
Fans skeptical: Is the Binotto scenario looming?
While the protagonists are spreading optimism, fans on social media are divided. The fear is that a brilliant engineer is not automatically a good team manager. Many draw parallels with Ferrari in 2022. “Newey focuses on both building a car and managing a team. That can either go well or end up like Binotto,” writes one user on Reddit. Another adds: “If Aston Martin wanted him to improve the car, they can’t promote him to team boss. He now has to take on 90 percent of other tasks that have nothing to do with technology.”
Others disagree and point to Newey’s experience: “As chief technical officer, he was already responsible for half the team. He wasn’t sitting alone in a design workshop.”
Whether the experiment will be successful will be seen in 2026. Aston Martin is currently eighth in the constructors’ championship with 72 points and hopes to catch up with the leaders with the new structure and the Honda deal.