Newey Steps Back From Being Aston Martin’s Team Principal
- therookiereporters
- Mar 25
- 3 min read
Aerodynamicist turned Team Principal may not have been Newey’s calling as he has officially stepped back from the leadership and management role with the Silverstone-based team on the hunt for a replacement.
Who is Adrian Newey?
Adrian Newey is suggested as the best aerodynamicist of Formula 1 to date. He has been with Williams when Senna was there and McLaren with Mika Hakkinen, before moving to Red Bull and making himself quite at home for nearly 20 years, but in 2025 it was announced he’d be joining Aston Martin for 2026 and onwards as Team Principal.
To find out more about Adrian Newey, read this article:
Assaying the AMR26
With the presence of new regulations this year, all of the teams have had to start from scratch, making it an even playing field for our contenders. It was perhaps naively assumed that Aston Martin would flourish with Newey as part of their weaponry. So far, it’s been nothing but a struggle for the team, with them being the “runt” of the litter in a sense. This is because they arrived late to the Barcelona Shakedown in January and have been hampered by ongoing reliability issues since Bahrain Pre-Season Testing, most noticeably engine and battery vibrations concerns. These engine and battery vibrations are caused by the team’s new power unit partner - Honda, and have resulted in Stroll and Alonso’s hands going numb after a few laps in the races of 2026.
Alonso has reported that after 20 laps, he “began to lose all feeling” after seeing him having to take his hands off the wheel down the straights as a desperate attempt to regain sensation. Due to this being a major safety concern with the possibility of the drivers not being able to control their racecraft, but also the vibrations being reported as “dangerous” by Newey as it poses the risk of permanent nerve damage, the team have not been able to complete the first 2 Grand Prixs of the season. With Adrian’s roots in the technical aspects of Formula 1 rather than leadership and management, he will be returning to the sector in attempts to revitalise their chances of, at least, a midfield finish in the constructors' title.
From Audi to Aston?
It is rumoured that Jonathan Wheatley, who was also previously at Red Bull with Adrian for 20 years, will fill the Team Principal Vacancy at Aston Martin. The team is based just 20 miles from Red Bull, making it quite accessible in terms of travel, but also this is an incredible opportunity and challenge that Wheatley may take on. He is currently co-piloting Audi with Mattia Binotto, so he will have already gained experience in the role and would give him the chance to take full control over a team instead.
Why Wheatley, though? Well, as previously mentioned, he and Newey were coworkers, so it is likely he was put forward as a candidate to take the position. Also, Jonathan's leaving Audi wouldn’t leave the team without a principal, as Binotto would supposedly steer the ship or promote another internal member to fill Wheatley’s boots.
Expectations for Suzuka
We can’t be sure what will happen, but we do know this won’t be a miraculous overnight turnaround for Aston Martin. These cars take years to develop to extract their full potential within the regulations, so it’s likely that if the team can get back on its feet and out of the dust, they’ll only begin to race hard as early as the summer. Then again, we never know what ideas Newey will conjure up to get the AMR26 into racing shape.
Article written by Alice Seager ©️Alice Seager 2026
