Formula One mastermind Adrian Newey has explained that there was one driving force behind his decision to head to Aston Martin as opposed to any other team – Lawrence Stroll.
The British designer will begin working at the team’s Silverstone headquarters from March 2025, taking up a role as Managing Technical Partner, despite interest from a host of F1 rivals.
At an Aston Martin unveiling, the key question was put to Newey why he wanted to join Aston Martin rather than elsewhere, only for the engineering expert to reply: “Lawrence.”
Team owner Stroll sat down with Newey to announce that the former Red Bull man was going to lead their project from next year, while also becoming a shareholder in the outfit.
“Towards the end of April I’ve decided to do something new, a new challenge,” Newey explained. “I was very flattered to be approached by various teams, but Lawrence’s passion and commitment was very persuasive.”
In May, following Newey’s decision to quit Red Bull, Lewis Hamilton said that he would “very much” like to see the 65-year-old join him at Ferrari next year.
“I mean, Adrian’s known for… he’s got such a great history, track record, and has obviously just done an amazing job through his career, in engaging with teams and the knowledge he has,” the seven-time world champion said.
“I think he would be an amazing addition. I think they’ve [Ferrari] already got a great team, they’re already making huge progress, strides forward – their car’s quicker this year. But yeah, it would be a privilege to work with him.”
Newey, who admitted that he held talks with other teams, at the time revealed that he was “very flattered” to have been spoken of in such a manner by Hamilton.
“It’s very kind of Lewis to say that,” Newey said earlier in the season. “I’m very flattered, but at the moment it’s just take a little bit of a break and see what happens next.”
Newey has previously claimed that it was one of the “emotional” regrets of his career not to work with either Hamilton or Fernando Alonso, but he will get his wish with one of those legendary drivers as he pairs up with the Spanish star at Aston Martin.