Aston Martin: Adrian Newey in a “design trance” when developing 2026 F1 car

Aston Martin turned its full attention to the 2026 regulations early this year, becoming one of the first Formula 1 teams to do so. According to team principal and CEO Andy Cowell, that approach led to a “painful” 2025 season, although the hope is that the team will reap the benefits in years to come. 

Adrian Newey plays a key role in that long-term vision and embodies the team's clear choice for 2026. The legendary designer moved into his glass-walled office – complete with the iconic drawing board – in March this year. Since his arrival, Newey has devoted himself entirely to the 2026 car. The Briton has offered some lunchtime advice on the 2025 challenger, but has otherwise avoided any distractions from his main goal: success under the new set of regulations.   

Aston Martin engineers impressed by Newey 

During the Monaco Grand Prix – his first race weekend in the paddock since joining Aston Martin – Newey said his wife sees him slip into a “design trance” whenever he’s developing a new car. According to Cowell, that is exactly what’s happening right now at Aston Martin as well. 

“Yes, he's an exceptionally focused individual, extremely driven, single-minded, and he's doing detailed designs on his drawing board in his office,” Cowell said during an exclusive interview with Motorsport.com. When jokingly asked whether Newey has already started sleeping at the office, Cowell laughed: “Well, we all need beds in the factory!” 

“You go in to catch up with him, and you see that he's focused intently on a bit of detailed design. Like many of us, when you're focused intently on something, it does look like you're in a trance. His detail focus is very impressive to see. You're almost apologising for distracting him! You've got a moment; I'd just like to talk to you about something else…” Cowell laughed, describing a typical day at the team’s Silverstone campus. 

Cowell admits he’s impressed watching Newey work at his new team. “It's enjoyable to see, and his ability to look at the overall architecture of a car, balancing all the competing systems, I'd say is the best in the industry.” 

Andy Cowell, Team Principal and Group CEO at Aston Martin F1 Team with Adrian Newey, Managing Technical Partner of Aston Martin F1

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

That impression is not just Cowell’s, but is widely shared within the Aston Martin engineering departments. 

“Also, his first principles engineering approach is very keen. He's very laser-focused on that,” Cowell added. “There are lots of structural mechanical engineers that I've spoken to who said his first principle engineering is awesome. Stiffness of a component, BDQ, he's always reminding us of that. So yeah, he's an exceptional engineer.” 

The division of roles between Newey and Cardile 

Newey isn’t the only major technical signing of Aston Martin in the past year. Former Ferrari man Enrico Cardile also joined the Silverstone-based squad just over two months ago. With two high-profile leaders, there could theoretically be friction over the exact roles and responsibilities, but Cowell stresses that those things are clearly defined. 

“Adrian's very much into the detailed design, right from the beginning of March, into the regulations, understanding the concepts that have been created and then moving that on. He's focused heavily on the core architecture of the car, so the aspects of the car that you probably don't want to change through a racing season. That's been his focus initially,” Cowell said. 

“And he's heavily involved in detail aero work, detail mechanical work, suspension work. You'll see him both at his drawing board and at engineers' CFD screens.”  

Cardile, on the other hand, has a different task – overseeing the entire operation rather than the car itself. “Enrico is looking at the organisation, looking at the growth and development of people and how it all fits together. He's looking at how our innovation machine works, but also how the teamwork is optimised so that everybody is playing their role at the right time,” Cowell explained. 

“But they've got offices next door to each other. The majority of the time they're having lunch together, and I think there's a really good relationship between them. I think they both understand their strengths, and it looks very positive to me.”