Aston Martin is preparing to announce Adrian Newey’s arrival on September 10, ahead of the restrictions imposed by Red Bull. The summer saga will come to an end on Tuesday, with Lawrence Stroll justifiably proud of having concluded a long and intense negotiation with the “genius” of Formula 1.
The Canadian magnate is building a team with the ambition to compete for the championship under the 2026 regulations. In addition to the new Silverstone headquarters, which is nearing completion in various departments (particularly the state-of-the-art wind tunnel), there’s also a staff upgrade that extends beyond the excellence of Adrian Newey. It includes Andy Cowell, former head of Mercedes engines, who will become CEO in place of the outgoing Martin Whitmarsh in October, and Enrico Cardile, who is leaving Ferrari to become Chief Technical Officer.
The main alternative to Aston Martin was Ferrari. In the Monza paddock, rumors circulated about why the Adrian Newey deal didn’t materialize with Maranello, even when an agreement seemed very possible. Some reputable media sources even claimed that a contract had already been signed.
Aware of the value the F1 world has attributed to him, the Englishman played a subtle game, involving not just money but also benefits. Initially, it seemed that Ferrari was the clear favorite: Fred Vasseur had opened a very serious channel, leading the team to allocate an extra budget for Adrian, accepting that he could take on a consulting role, external to the Reparto Corse structure, while remaining based in the UK.
The shrewd Lawrence Stroll did not hesitate to counter with a monstrous offer, worthy of a top driver rather than a technician (reportedly 100 million over three years, plus a series of performance-based bonuses…). However, some believe that Adrian would have still chosen Ferrari if Maranello had matched the offer.
At that point, a stop was triggered within the Scuderia, not just because of the bidding war but because of the clear feeling that there was no deep attachment to the team. This attitude reportedly displeased Ferrari’s top management, John Elkann and Benedetto Vigna, and fully convinced Frederic Vasseur. The team principal is doing great work to build a cohesive team, making group unity one of its main strengths.
Around Singapore, the Frenchman will announce the new organizational structure of the Ferrari Racing Department, which can do without superstar technicians, given that the existing core, to which Loic Serra will be added on October 1, has shown it can bring the SF-24 back to victory in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza with a spectacular race by Charles Leclerc, after a difficult and challenging period in the development of the SF-24 single-seater.
Ferrari looks ahead with confidence: they expect confirmations from the Baku City Circuit and the Marina Bay Street Circuit in Singapore and have no regrets about what didn’t come to fruition…
