Formula 1 design guru Adrian Newey has revealed he will be playing catch up at Aston Martin thanks to the nature of his Red Bull gardening leave.
Newey announced his Red Bull departure last Spring and his move to Aston Martin was revealed in September.
However, a period of gardening leave prevents Newey from taking up his position as Managing Technical Partner at Aston Martin from March 2.
With teams now allowed to get their 2026 F1 cars in the wind tunnel, Newey said he’ll be playing catch up.
“So obviously, Aston wants to do the best job they can in ’25, but my main kind of focus will be the ’26 regulations and this big change, because I start on March 2,” Newey said on the Autocar podcast.
“The aero rules come out, I think, 1 January, or might be the second, whatever the working day is.
“So I’ll already be kind of two months behind the curve.
“But in truth, of course, it’s more than that, because not only will I be behind on the looking at those regulations compared to when they’ve come out…
“With the way the regulations have gone, you really need to be in front of a CAD [computer-aided design] system as well, to be able to understand all the boxes and so forth. They’re so prescribed.
“But also, it will be getting to know a new team, getting to know all the guys and girls there and how we all work together.”
Newey will team up with Chief Technical Officer Enrico Cardile at Aston Martin and the duo will have the team’s newly-developed wind tunnel to aid the creation of the 2026 F1 car.
Newey compared to Yoda by Mike Krack
Aston Martin Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack is eager to have Newey on board at Silverstone.
When responding to a fan question on the team’s YouTube channel likening Newey to Star Wars Jedi Master Yoda, Krack said: “I think Adrian will be the force to bring us forward, but I like the analogy [to Yoda].
“The new simulator is really like Star Wars.
“All in all, I think it’s a great step forward for us. And once it is fully in use, I think it will be a great benefit.”
Complimenting Newey’s design genius in 2026 will be Honda power units, extending the Briton’s relationship with the Japanese marque and propelling Aston Martin into the next rules cycle as a full-fledged works entry.
READ MORE – Aston Martin: ‘Nothing can go wrong’ with F1 ‘Yoda’ Adrian Newey
