Fernando Alonso believes Adrian Newey will have a bigger “impact” at Aston Martin than Lewis Hamilton will have with Ferrari ahead of the 2025 Formula 1 season.
The British driver makes the historic switch to the Prancing Horse for 2025, with the SF-25 unveiled at the F1 75 live event earlier this week.
Elsewhere on the grid, Aston Martin’s preparations are not solely focused on the upcoming season, but on the imminent arrival of its soon-to-be Technical Director.
Newey announced his departure from Red Bull last year before confirming his intentions to join Lawrence Stroll’s team months later.
The 66-year-old will begin his work with Aston Martin at the start of March, before the first round of the season with the Australian Grand Prix.
Before the F1 75 live event, Alonso spoke about how Newey acts as a “free spirit” within the team, with his colleagues unable to “control him” as he works how he sees best.
The 43-year-old went on to discuss how Newey’s influence with the British squad will trump anything Hamilton can do with Ferrari.
“Adrian Newey will always have more impact than any driver,” Alonso told the Spanish publication AS.
“Drivers come and go, the 20 of us here try to drive well and we have achieved things until we get to F1.
“I don’t know what Hamilton will bring or add to Ferrari, it will surely be less than what a designer can bring.”
Newey’s main focus on F1 2026 regulations
The legendary F1 designer has been on gardening leave since the 2024 Miami Grand Prix, with his duties within Red Bull limited to working on its RB17 hypercar project.
Newey, who was given shares in Aston Martin, will focus on the revamped rules for the 2026 season.
With changes to the chassis and power unit regulations, the Silverstone-based outfit will also switch to Honda engines.
However, he will have to play catch-up for 2026, as teams can begin development for that season at the start of this year.
On the latest episode of the Autocar podcast, Newey was asked if Red Bull could prevent him from coming up with ideas while he is still on gardening leave.
“No, they can’t, but they’ve blocked my tools,” Newey said in response.
“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.
“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.”
READ MORE – How Adrian Newey will fit into ‘more efficient’ Aston Martin F1 leadership
