Aston Martin is understandably frustrated. Imagine getting someone with 12 World Constructors’ Championships and a staggering 223 Grand Prix wins under their belt to join your team — and then being forced to wait to use that talent because the rules say so!
The Silverstone-based British team had pulled off arguably the biggest coup ahead of the 2025 season by getting ‘Aero God’ Adrian Newey to leave Red Bull for Aston Martin.
As one of the biggest names in motorsport, the 66-year-old, deservedly nicknamed the ‘Einstein of F1’, must serve out a ‘gardening leave’— an enforced cooling off period to prevent a former employer from risking intellectual property leaks that could benefit a rival team.
With regulations remaining relatively stable in 2025, Red Bull has even more reason to delay Newey‘s arrival at Aston Martin.
But Aston Martin’s agony may end soon. His manager, Eddie Jordan, has revealed that the legendary British aerodynamicist’s ‘gardening leave’ is about to end soon.
“5th, 6th of March,” Jordan replied on the Formula for Success podcast when his co-host David Coulthard asked him when will Newey begin working with Aston Martin. “So his little holiday, his little gardening leave is coming fast to a close“.
Lid lifted on Adrian Newey contract negotiations with two key attractions revealed:
– Eddie Jordan has shared insights into the negotiations that led to Adrian Newey joining Aston Martin, highlighting the professionalism of the team and two key factors: the involvement of Honda… pic.twitter.com/GopWLRkmfq
— This is Formula 1 (@ThisIsFormu1a1) October 9, 2024
Jordan added that Newey was spending a part of his holiday with him in Cape Town since his wife, Amanda Newey, is from South Africa.
Can Newey change Aston Martin’s fortunes this year itself?
With official F1 testing set for next month, Aston Martin would have already built their 2025 challenger, the AMR25. This means Newey will likely focus on developing the car throughout the season, with his real work from scratch beginning on the AMR26.
Given Aston Martin’s struggles last season and the likelihood of starting this year on the back foot, they will want Newey to prioritize next year’s car as regulations change. Fernando Alonso certainly hopes so, knowing 2026 could be his last shot at a third title.
“I still dream, why not? Yeah, I know that 2026 is probably my only chance because 2025 is extremely difficult,” he said on BBC’s Chequered Flag Podcast last year.
If Alonso wins a championship in a Newey-designed car, having last claimed a title in 2006, it would arguably be as big a story as Lewis Hamilton securing a record eighth.
