Nov.30 (GMM) Lawrence Stroll has privately assured Aston Martin staff that Christian Horner will not be joining the team in any management capacity – even as questions swirl about Adrian Newey’s shock promotion.
Marca reports that Newey will act as team principal for at least the opening races of 2026 – rounds he was already scheduled to attend due to the regulation change – before returning to the factory, where Mike Krack will resume race-weekend leadership.
Cowell, meanwhile, has been moved into a role focused on integrating Aston’s 2026 chassis with Honda’s all-new power unit, Aramco fuel and Valvoline lubricants – a task Newey sees as critical under the sweeping new rules.
Dr Helmut Marko, who knows Newey better than most, remains sceptical.
“A team principal has many responsibilities, including communication,” he told Sport1.
“As far as I know Newey, he’s more of an introverted technician who prefers to work in peace and quiet. The other duties of a team principal will take away his time where his top skills are needed – as a designer.
“Bureaucracy and organisation are certainly not Newey’s strong suits.”
But Ralf Schumacher sees no cause for alarm.
“If Newey and Mike Krack get along well, it won’t be a big deal for Adrian,” he said.
“He talks to the drivers a lot anyway and takes on team principal duties, so he’s a good choice. Adrian Newey is someone who has always had a good core group around him. He now needs to gather people he knows around him – but some are also coming from Red Bull.”
Schumacher also noted that the current structure may not be final, with Andreas Seidl still linked with Aston Martin.
Newey himself – making only his second paddock appearance of the season in Qatar – insisted his routine will not change.
“I won’t change my day-to-day routine,” he said of his 2026 promotion to team boss.
Explaining the restructuring, he added: “Frankly, it became clear to us that, given the complexity of the 2026 power unit integration, Andy’s skills would be ideally suited to building synergies between Honda, Aramco, and the team.
“So, he generously volunteered to take on this responsibility in the first half of 2026. And then we had the question ‘Ok, but who’s going to be the team manager?’ And since I was going to be at all the first races anyway, these responsibilities wouldn’t really impact my workload, so I decided to take on that part of the job as well.”
Newey brushed aside fears that team principal duties could pull him away from car design.
“Building the car is truly what I want and need to do. It’s what gets me out of bed in the morning. Nothing will distract me from that.”
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