After months of reports about signing Adrian Newey, Aston Martin has reportedly penned a deal at last. The deal is expected to be officially announced at a news conference on Tuesday at Aston Martin’s F1 headquarters in Silverstone and amid these speculations, his supposed salary figures have also come out.
A source close to the British team has informed BBC Sport that Newey’s contract could be for five years with a yearly salary of £30 million (approximately $40 million). This figure also includes bonus and add-on payments.
Adrian Newey, who has built a reputation as the greatest F1 designer in history, is set to join Aston Martin pic.twitter.com/pGqOeX6JxI
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) September 7, 2024
Signing the 65-year-old designer is a statement of intent by Aston Martin owner, Lawrence Stroll. While there were strong rumors about Newey being in talks with Ferrari, those links reportedly broke down mainly due to the Italian team not wanting to break the bank for the Briton’s salary.
Amid that, Stroll has been pursuing Newey since the start of this year, with rumored offers of a $100 million deal for a three to four-year tenure. The Canadian also reportedly gave him a tour of Aston’s state-of-the-art factory and other facilities in Silverstone.
As for Ferrari, there were rumors about the Scuderia’s top brass worrying about Newey taking too much control in the team. Thus, they have since shifted their focus to promoting existing talent and also hiring lesser-known technical talent from other teams.
The Newey-Ferrari links still persisted due to Lewis Hamilton’s 2025 arrival, as the 65-year-old had stated about his unfulfilled wish of wanting to work with Hamilton. However, Ferrari have recently appointed Loic Serra — who is coming to the team from Mercedes — as the Technical Director for their Chassis department. Thus, it more or less confirmed that Newey was going elsewhere.
Could Newey be the final piece of the puzzle for Lawrence Stroll and Aston Martin?
Stroll has been keen on his mission to make the Silverstone-based outfit a championship-winning team since he bought the team in mid-2018. With the Aston Martin rebrand, he set the aim of winning races and championships in four to five years’ time.
Stroll‘s $254 million investment into the brand-new factory and wind tunnel reflected the Canadian’s determination for his championship ambitions. Moreover, he also increased the hiring of top personnel like Dan Fallows — who was in fact a close ally of Newey at Red Bull.
Aston also recruited former Mercedes engine chief Andy Cowell this year as the team’s CEO, while Ferrari’s Enrico Cardile will also join the Silverstone team as the Chief Technical Officer. So, Stroll has already assembled a formidable line-up of experienced technical talent from rival teams.
Aston Martin has officially opened the first phase of its new £200 million F1 factory in Silverstone – Formula One’s first totally new team base for almost two decades – ahead of this weekend’s British Grand Prix.
The first of three purpose-built buildings constructed in… pic.twitter.com/tdFu1JPw71
— Jefferson (@Jefferson_MFG) July 7, 2023
With the Honda engine partnership coming in 2026, Stroll and Aston Martin would look at Newey’s signing as the final piece in their puzzle. Now, all they need to do is provide Newey with the ideal working environment and culture besides the high paycheck and they could fulfill their championship ambitions in the next few years.
