‘Monumental’: Stroll hails Newey coup as Aston Martin eyes 2026 reset
Lawrence Stroll doesn’t do understatement, and on this one he isn’t pretending to. The Aston Martin executive chairman calls Adrian Newey’s arrival “monumental” — a word that lands with some weight when you’re talking about the most decorated designer in Formula 1 history.
Newey officially joined Aston Martin in March as managing technical partner, months after confirming his intent to leave Red Bull in September 2024. He’s now steering the AMR26 project — Aston’s first car shaped fully around the 2026 rulebook — while the team primes itself for life as a Honda works outfit.
“This is a 112-year-old British icon with a lot of pride behind it,” Stroll told the team’s website. “I give our people the tools, the facilities, the finances — everything they need — and then I let them do their jobs. Getting Adrian to join was monumental.”
There’s a reason the man commands that kind of language. His fingerprints are on more than 200 grand prix wins and a combined 26 drivers’ and constructors’ titles. But the choice of role is telling: Newey hasn’t parked himself in a corner office. Managing technical partner reads like a mandate to set direction — concept, architecture, the hard calls — across the group, not just polish a front wing.
And there’s plenty to pull together. Aston Martin has been on a hiring tear, with Andy Cowell in as team principal and Enrico Cardile as chief technical officer, alongside a deepening roster in aero and vehicle performance. The Silverstone campus has grown up in a hurry too. After rescuing the operation from administration in 2018 and rebranding as Aston Martin in 2021, Stroll’s playbook has been consistent: build the place, then fill it with people who’ve already won.
“The biggest challenge now is putting everything together, making it all happen,” he said. “I’m quite confident it will, but you have to have the patience.”
Patience is the key word. The 2026 regulations promise a reset on both chassis and power unit philosophy, with a heavier emphasis on electrical deployment and efficiency married to simplified aero. It’s the sort of blank canvas Newey has historically turned into a masterpiece. The works partnership with Honda, meanwhile, removes guesswork from integration — software, packaging, cooling — and should give Aston Martin something it’s never truly had in this era: complete control over how the whole car is conceived.
That’s the theory. The reality is that resets cut both ways. The team has shown flashes — strong early form in recent seasons, podiums, genuine peaks of pace — but it’s also learned how quickly the midfield can swallow you if development stalls. The Newey-Cowell-Cardile axis is designed to flatten those fluctuations. A car that starts as the right idea matters more than a thousand upgrades on the wrong one.
Stroll knows it. He’s bullish, but not blind to the timeline. Facilities first. People second. Results when the regulations change. It’s why his comments aren’t just chest-beating; they’re a reminder that Aston Martin has been building toward this particular winter for years.
“There’s always been a very high level of intensity in this sport and I provide the right leadership,” he said. “First was putting together the facilities. Most important was putting together the team of people.”
If that sounds like a chairman stepping back, it’s because that’s the plan. Stroll isn’t pretending to be an engineer. He’s banking on the people who are. The Newey signature is the headline, but the subplots — works Honda power, deeper technical leadership, a factory that can iterate at top-team speed — are what will decide whether “monumental” reads like foresight or hyperbole when the AMR26 breaks cover.
For now, the mood in Silverstone is exactly what you’d expect: purposeful, a little impatient, and very aware that 2026 is the real exam. The ingredients are finally on the same table. The cook is in the kitchen. Time to see what Aston Martin can really serve.
