Managing Technical Partner Adrian Newey or CTO Enrico Cardile: Who Is More Senior at Aston Martin?

By poaching multiple people from rival teams, Aston Martin has undergone a major overhaul of its technical structure, with new roles coming to the table while fitting in senior leaders like Adrian Newey and Andy Cowell. Newey, who is Aston’s greatest acquisition in terms of F1 car design experience, will serve as the Managing Technical Partner of the team, while also holding a shareholding in the British car brand.

Newey will be joining the team in March. Meanwhile, former Mercedes engine mastermind, Cowell already joined team Silverstone in October as the Group CEO. His major decision in this restructuring was to take up the Team Principal’s role, reassigning Mike Krack to the role of Chief Trackside Officer.

While it is clear that Krack will mainly handle trackside operations under Cowell, there is a lack of clarity about the dynamic between Newey and Aston Martin’s incoming recruit from Ferrari, Enrico Cardile. The former Ferrari technical director will serve as the Silverstone outfit’s Chief Technical Officer (CTO), which is usually the senior most position in an F1 team’s technical hierarchy.

In fact, Newey held that position at Red Bull until his exit in May 2024. At Aston Martin, both Newey and Cardile are respectively taking a step up with their switch. Comparing their experience and seniority, though, it makes sense that Aston will put Newey in charge of the team’s entire car development besides Cowell overseeing the operations and execution aspects.

The Race has also hinted at the same with their tentative hierarchy chart of how Aston Martin’s newly rejigged technical leadership structure may look. It shows Newey and Cowell at the top in a similar capacity as the two honchos.

Under Newey, they have appointed Cardile as the CTO, who will oversee the finer details of Aston’s car development while adhering to the Briton’s vision. Cardile will also be supported by Eric Blandin, the deputy technical director, and Luca Furbatto, the engineering director.

Meanwhile, former Alpine man Bob Bell is expected to take on broader responsibilities as the executive director, reporting to both Newey and Cowell.

How Aston Martin’s technical structure could function

Utilizing his heaps of engine development experience, Cowell may focus on integrating the new Honda power units into Aston Martin’s 2026 car under the new regulations. Besides that, the former Mercedes man will have overarching control of supervising and leading the team’s operations and execution as its CEO and Team Principal.

The Race had previously reported that Bell would be closely working with Cowell and Newey to streamline the team’s processes with their new state-of-the-art factory and wind tunnel in Silverstone. The ex-Renault man has extensive experience in setting up a team’s infrastructure and would turn out to be a pivotal figure in Aston Martin‘s structure.

As for trackside operations, Cowell may not have to worry about being at the track for every race weekend with Krack serving as the Chief Trackside officer.

This new role doesn’t change a lot for Krack, as his on-track responsibilities remain the same, just that he won’t have to bear the Team Principal’s wider responsibilities. The Luxembourgish engineer would still be the senior most figure trackside in Cowell’s absence.

As for long-time performance director, Tom McCollough, Aston Martin hasn’t assigned him any role in their restructured technical hierarchy for its F1 operation. However, McCollough would be taking up a different role pertaining to the expansion of Aston Martin’s racing programs into different motorsport categories.