Fernando Alonso has revealed his surprise at the announcement that Adrian Newey will head up the Aston Martin team from the 2026 Formula 1 season.
The news that Newey will take on the mantle of Team Principal at Aston Martin sent shockwaves through the F1 world in the lead-up to the Qatar Grand Prix.
Designing title-winning cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, Newey will soon run Aston Martin, fielding he car he has spent the majority of the last year crafting.
Current boss Andy Cowell’s future move into a new role of Chief Strategy Officer was also met with shock, given his work to restructure the team began barely a year ago.
The announcement came as a surprise to Alonso, who confirmed he was given no indication of the reorganisation when speaking to Newey.
“Not really,” Alonso told media including Motorsport Week.
“I mean, we were discussing more technical stuff about the car than any other thing, or future dreams, but it’s good news.”
Alonso champions Aston Martin changes
Revealing details of Newey’s work since joining Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso outlined the strengths of the legendary designer and Cowell’s in light of the changes.
“He was anyway managing, in a way, the technical development of the car, but also the team, the people that was needed and taking care of which areas we need to reinforce as a team, which other areas were less important”, he commented.
“So, in a way, he was doing internally, a lot of management, and Andy was doing a lot of management as well on the engine side and engine integration to the chassis.
“I mean, it was maybe a normal logical step into 2026, so we have probably the two best people. One [Newey] doing the chassis, and the team, one [Cowell] the engine integration and the team as well.
“We have a very strong leader with Lawrence, with the determination that Lawrence has and the commitment that he’s shown for many, many years already.
“So, between the three of them, I think we are in good hands. So, let’s move into 2026 with hopefully a better car.”
Fulfilling a career ambition
It is no secret that Alonso has had eyes on driving a car designed by Newey throughout his career, the Spaniard revealing the attraction of his expertise and outstanding career.
“I think with Adrian, there is only one style, which is performance,” he said.
“There is no other word. There is just the unlimited search for performance and perfection.
“Great competitor, great leader, so I think the whole team – which is not that we are not into the performance direction now – but I think with Adrian, it will be even more extreme.
“If we can, embrace that approach…we cannot forget, this team is still very new. The base of the team is 300 people from the old days. And now, the team grew up so quickly in the last two or three years, so a lot of our employees are new to the sport, are young, energetic people that [will] need the guidance of Adrian, or these great leaders that we have to teach them what is the way to succeed in Formula 1.
“And we have the two most successful individuals ever in the sport, Andy Cowell and Adrian Newey.”
READ MORE – Adrian Newey announced as Aston Martin Team Principal for F1 2026
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