Soon after his Aston Martin announcement, Adrian Newey was asked in an interview about why he chose to sign for the Silverstone-based outfit over Ferrari. In reply, the Briton simply said that he could only choose one and that he could simply not refuse Lawrence Stroll’s lucrative offer.
On hearing Newey’s reasons for rejecting Ferrari, Damon Hill also reacted. The 1996 F1 champion retweeted Newey’s post and wrote, “Very interesting point of view as always“.
Very interesting point of view as always #f1 https://t.co/EljjZ7LOm0
— Damon Hill (@HillF1) September 11, 2024
Newey’s move to Aston Martin is very lucrative as he will now become a shareholder of the company. Moreover, the 65-year-old will also reportedly receive a whopping $40 million a year salary. Meanwhile, another reason Newey presumably chose to sign for Aston Martin over Ferrari is the comfort of the environment he will receive at Silverstone.
Historically, Newey has worked best with a model where he is given more freedom and one where he does not have to go through layers of communication before making a decision. That’s the kind of power he will have at the British team, something he reportedly wasn’t promised at Maranello.
How did Stroll convince Newey to join Aston Martin?
Newey revealed how Aston Martin is the only team on the grid with one leader at the top. This was the norm 20 years ago with Williams, Jordan, etc. However, since the sport has become extremely commercial, the layers of bureaucracy have increased. Stroll offered Newey power wherein he’d be answerable to only one man.
This aspect of working with the Silverstone outfit attracted Newey the most. This will allow him to let his creative juices flow and do his best work with no restrictions.
Such freedom is exactly what was missing in his last two jobs. Ferrari could not give him such freedom and power but Stroll could, and hence, was successful in signing him.
