Lewis Hamilton isn’t the only Formula 1 legend changing teams.
Adrian Newey, one of the most respected design bosses in the competition’s history, has agreed to a five-year deal to join the Aston Martin Aramco (AMR) team. He will now serve as the team’s Managing Technical Partner, starting early next year.
The entire F1 world has been waiting to find out where the 65-year-old would end up after he announced he was leaving Red Bull Racing in May. Newey is F1’s foremost designer and won 25 world championships during his nearly two decades with the team. He also designed the outfit’s first hypercar, the track-only RB17, which made its public debut earlier this year at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Since leaving Red Bull, Newey has met with a number of teams, including Ferrari and Williams, according to Formula1.com. A private tour of the brand-new AMR Technology Campus located near the Silverstone Circuit in June is said to have helped the designer decide which team was the right one for him.
The large sums of money that Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll will reportedly pay Newey probably didn’t hurt, either. In addition to agreeing to serve as the team’s Managing Technical Partner, the designer will also become a shareholder. The five-year agreement is thought to be worth £30 million per season, or around $200 million in total, according to ESPN. That would make Newey the sport’s second highest-paid figure, behind only Hamilton, its biggest star.
“I am thrilled to be joining the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team,” Newey said in a statement “I have been hugely inspired and impressed by the passion and commitment that Lawrence brings to everything he is involved with. Lawrence is determined to create a world-beating team. He is the only majority team owner who is actively engaged in the sport.
Although he’ll start his new job next March, the partnership won’t really begin to yield results until the next year. When Newey does officially join up with AMR he will immediately begin work on the team’s car for the 2026 season. That is when a new set of car regulations, including a new power unit formula, are set to go into effect. It’s Aston Martin’s hope that Newey’s involvement will help give the team a leg up on the competition as the F1 enters its next era.
