Adrian Newey to Aston Martin? Team boss teases ‘big-name’ signing as rumours swirl

With speculation that he’s set to sign for Aston Martin, the prospect of an Adrian Newey arrival has been addressed by team boss Mike Krack.

Following confirmation in May that he is to leave Red Bull entirely by the middle of 2025, Newey has played a huge role in a summer of speculation which has linked him with pretty much every single team on the grid.

Mike Krack addresses ‘Adrian Newey to Aston Martin’ rumours

Aston Martin has been the UK-based team with which Newey has been most linked since news of the 65-year-old’s departure from Red Bull emerged. Newey still works for Red Bull but has stepped away from the coalface of F1 as he serves a soft gardening leave period before his full departure by the middle of 2025.

While Newey has indicated a desire to take a break from F1, he has been strongly linked with other teams ahead of the 2026 F1 regulations changes – including Ferrari , Williams, and McLaren.

But it’s Aston Martin that appears to be a particularly strong possibility, with billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll having bolstered the technical side of the squad alongside its relentless infrastructure improvements back at its Silverstone base.

Just this season, Aston Martin has announced the arrival of former Renault stalwart Bob Bell, former Mercedes’ engine chief Andy Cowell, and Ferrari’s chassis director Enrico Cardile – but Newey would be the cherry on top of what has been a strong recruitment drive for the Silverstone-based squad.

Addressing the possibility in a summer shutdown column for the Aston Martin website, team boss Mike Krack was asked directly whether any further “big-name signings” can be expected, with Newey name-dropped.

“We’re still in a period of growth – but I think we have to be open-minded and dynamic, in terms of personnel as well as car development,” Krack said, with Newey put to him as a free agent.

“This isn’t a sport that rewards consolidation.

“Obviously, that has to be constructed around a stable core. You need to have routines and you need to have trust and establishing that trust can take a long time – but you should never sit back and say ‘We are fine’.

“There’s always a need to be looking at what you can do better, what you can change. Doesn’t necessarily mean you make that change – but you have to keep asking the question.

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“We’ve announced several new members of the senior management team over the last few months, and each time someone new arrives, I’m asked the question: ‘Is that the last piece in the puzzle?’ It isn’t. It never is. We’ll continue to look at recruitment because perhaps there’s somebody else out there that’s going to make us better.

“I say ‘out there’. It’s important to never forget that we have a lot of talent within the team that we’re consistently trying to develop and bring up through the organisation. You look outside because the organisation has to stay dynamic, has to be open to new perspectives, but we need to give the team that’s already here the opportunity to mature, to express itself, to naturally migrate to areas of greater responsibility.”

While Aston Martin appeared to have broken through into the ranks of frontrunners last season as the AMR23 was highly competitive at the start of the season, Krack refuted that the team is the finished article and said his outfit is still in the building phase ahead of a potential championship challenge in the coming years.

“Very much so, but the same can be said of any F1 team – you’re constantly evolving, constantly finding ways to improve and get stronger,” he said.

“We’re expanding to the point of parity with the front-running teams in terms of numbers, and when the AMR Technology Campus is completed, we’ll have a best-in-class facility for making F1 cars that also provides a pleasant, inspiring and empowering environment in which to work, and a useful tool for recruitment that also hits all of our sustainability targets.”

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