Lawrence Stroll continues to build his dream team. After having attracted into his nets Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso on the drivers' side, and especially the Dan Fallows-Eric Blandin duo on the engineers' side, respectively from Red Bull et Mercedes, the Canadian businessman has this time got his hands on the greatest engineer in the history of Formula 1, the British Adrian Newey. The Englishman even becomes a shareholder and will occupy the operational role of Managing Technical Partner. He will join the team for several years and will begin his mission from March 1, 2025.
Coveted by almost all the teams on the grid, and particularly by Williams, Alpine, Ferrari et Aston Martin, the sharpest brain in the F1 paddock and his now famous notebook finally decided to choose the green of Aston Martin, undoubtedly motivated by the project led by Lawrence Stroll, by the salary offered, by the means put in place, and also especially by the possibility for him to stay in England, at a time (66 years old) when he aims to stay in his cocoon rather than go on an adventure. And too bad for the retirement that he was starting to plan with a crossing of France in a caravan. It will stay in the garage for a while longer.
Adrian Newey, discussions with Ferrari
Discussions with Ferrari, and the possibility of working with Lewis Hamilton, may have made him hesitate at one point, but Frédéric Vasseur admitted to our colleagues that L'Equipe that the two men did not find the right formula to bring him in (salary expectations deemed excessive, difficulty in integrating such an individual into the Scuderia organisation and, above all, serious doubts concerning Newey's real desire to make a fresh start by leaving England for Italy), while Loïc Serra will arrive in Maranello in October as technical director.
Behind, Aston Martin was therefore the most natural destination, especially since relations between Christian Horner and him became strained at the start of last season. What Ferrari could not, or rather did not want to, offer him, Lawrence Stroll seems to have brought him on a silver platter: brand new facilities, technical heavyweights in the place, partnership with Honda, perfect timing since he will arrive in time to have an influence on the 2026 car and, cherry on the cake, a salary that should explode everything that has ever been offered to an engineer. Enough to make a few drivers drool on the grid!
“I am delighted to be joining the Aston Martin team,” he commented. “I have been very impressed by the passion and commitment that Lawrence brings to everything he does. Lawrence is determined to create a world-class team and is the only majority owner of a team who is actively involved in the sport. His commitment is demonstrated by the development of the new AMR Technology Campus and Wind Tunnel at Silverstone, which are not only state-of-the-art but also have a layout that creates an ideal working environment. With great partners like Honda and Aramco, they have all the key elements of the infrastructure needed to make Aston Martin a world-winning team and I am very much looking forward to helping make this happen.”
Work ahead of him
Having started forty-five years ago, Newey's career will therefore open with a sixth chapter after those of Fittipaldi where he started, March who revealed him, Williams through whom success (and the drama with the death of Senna) arrived, McLaren where he continued his work and Red Bull which made him a star. Wherever he went, Newey always found the path to success as evidenced by the 25 world titles (Drivers and Constructors) acquired since 1992.
In his slippers at Red Bull, a team he had joined nineteen years earlier, Adrian Newey will therefore discover a new creamery, and will have to deal with the devouring ambition of Lawrence Stroll to try to get back on its feet a team that had been imagined to become a leading team when it presented itself in the Spring of 2023 as the second force on the grid with Fernando Alonso author of 5 podiums in the first 6 races, before a slow decline in performance which today makes it the 5th force on the grid, far from the big 4. Newey already has work on his plate.
With (Jean-Michel Desnoues)
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Yves-Henri RANDIER
10/09/2024 at 02:09 a.m.
When Jeremy CLARKSON, his old school friend, let slip in June that the NEWEY couple were looking for a house in Northamptonshire (i.e. near the new Aston Martin Racing factory/campus) close to the motorway allowing easy access to Heathrow airport to jump on a night flight to their house in Cape Town in South Africa, the former star presenter of Top Gear was right!!
Yves-Henri RANDIER
10/09/2024 at 02:06 a.m.
Will NEWEY be a miracle worker at Aston Martin? One thing is for sure, Lawrence STROLL, a private investor, has had a lot of ideas since the acquisition of the Force India team and then the acquisition of Aston Martin. That being said, money is not everything, as evidenced by Toyota's move to F1 or Paris Saint Germain to the Champions League under the Qatari era...