Lawrence Stroll has admitted to courting Newey for some time, approaching the design genius in 2021, who decided to stay at Red Bull due to the thrill of being back at the top of the game. Newey was also hard at work designing the concept for the new Red Bull car following 2022’s overhaul of new regulations.
Stroll has also revealed that as soon as he heard the news of Newey’s departure from Red Bull, no one was getting in his way of recruiting him.
Adrian Newey and his new Aston Martin team
“The most recent talks in earnest began after I read Adrian’s news of his departure. Once I read that, I said, well, again, I believe this is meant to be. I believe Adrian will share my vision. He’s a super smart guy.”
After the first failed attempt to draw Newey to his team, Stroll decided that he needed to try everything in his power to make the team as competitive as possible. So, in 2021, he set about building a state-of-the-art factory. The team moved into the new Silverstone factory last year, the first F1 factory built in 17 years.
The £200m campus based near the home of British motorsport features two buildings, one housing the team’s design, manufacturing, and marketing departments. The other features a brand-new wind tunnel. Newey was given a tour of the factory in June, and Stroll believes that their new state-of-the-art facilities played a ‘huge’ part in persuading him to join.
Stroll’s team were not the only F1 outfit, however, who tried to pry Newey from Red Bull. Many fans were convinced that he would join Hamilton at Ferrari to form a dream team. Newey was asked about why he chose Aston Martin over the Italian giants following his first press conference as an Aston Martin employee.
“I was very flattered to have a lot of approaches from various teams. But really, Lawrence’s passion and commitment and enthusiasm is very endearing. It is very persuasive. The reality is, if you go back 20 years, then what we now call team principles were actually owners of the teams – Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan, et cetera. In this modern era, Lawrence is actually unique in being the only properly active team owner. That does bring a different feeling when you have somebody like Lawrence involved like that, it’s back to the old-school model.”
On top of a salary worth £30m a year inclusive of add-ons, Newey’s contract at Aston Martin will see him become a minority shareholder in the team, something the other teams chasing his signature seemed hesitant to do.
Newey said: “To have the chance to be a shareholder and a partner is something that hasn’t been offered to me before. So it’s a slightly different slant. It’s one I’m very much looking forward to. It became a very natural choice.”
Newey and Aston Martin will already be planning what actions they will take before 2026 – when new regulations are set to be put in place.
