Adrian Newey and Lawrence Stroll are placing big bets on each other

Season 6 of the Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive opens with a focus on Aston Martin, and owner Lawrence Stroll’s quest to build a championship team. “I’m not someone who could sit on the beach all day, or play golf. I’ve always fought for winning at whatever I did. It’s what drives me, it’s what motivates me, and it’s what excites me,” declares Stroll at an elaborate event in Antibes, a seaside city in southeastern France.

The next piece to that winning puzzle is now in place.

Aston Martin has begun a massive transformation in recent years, from breaking ground on a modernized factory to landing veteran — and former champion — Fernando Alonso as one of their two drivers. But on Tuesday the team announced their latest addition, introducing legendary designer Adrian Newey as the latest member of their management team.

A move that could reshape the entire Formula 1 grid.

From the moment Newey announced that he was leaving Red Bull at the end of the 2024 F1 season, speculation flowed through the paddock regarding his next destination. Newey was linked with every team on the grid, with many speculating that the legendary engineer would land at Ferrari, but ultimately Stroll — and his vision for the future — won out.

Of course, the astronomical figure likely played a role. According to multiple reports, Newey’s deal is worth approximately $20 million per season. But a return to the grid makes perfect sense when you consider his history. As we argued earlier this season, by coming back to the grid for next season Newey has a chance to solve F1’s next puzzle: The upcoming technical regulations that go into effect for the 2026 season.

Part of the beauty of the sport is that F1 is as much an engineering problem to solve through creativity as it is a race to be won by sheer driver skill, bravery, and determination. F1 constantly revises the rules and regulations for the sport, with some years offering bigger and bolder changes than others.

The 2026 season offers perhaps some of the biggest changes in recent memory, as the sport’s governing body confirmed in June a bold departure from the current set of regulations … which were instituted for the 2022 season.

A new set of regulations gives Newey the chance to stand in front of his legendary drawing board and, pencil in hand, begin work on solving a new riddle.

It is, in his own words, the part of the sport he loves best.

“I do enjoy regulation changes,” Newey is quoted as saying in The Formula. “Perhaps the part of my job I enjoy the most is figuring out what those regulations mean, what is their intention, and if a subtle difference allows [us to explore] new horizons.”

This is a puzzle that Newey has often solved well, with the RB5 and the RB18 perhaps two of the best examples.

But why Aston Martin? That piece of the decision rests with Stroll’s vision for building a championship team. In landing Alonso, Stroll brought a former champion into the fold. In breaking ground on their new three-building factory, complete with a modernized wind tunnel, Stroll pulled the entire operation into the modern age. The team announced that the “second phase” of that construction was complete on Monday with this post on social media:

Now with Newey, Stroll has the visionary to bring their cars into that age as well.

“Certainly the most exciting news in our Aston Martin F1 history,” said Stroll at the team’s live event from the AMR Technology Campus. “Adrian Newey will be joining us as a shareholder, and the technical manager of our Formula 1 team.

“Adrian, arguably, is the greatest in the world at what he does.”

“Lawrence,” said Newey when asked what brought him to Aston Martin.

“I felt as if I needed a new challenge,” continued the designer. “Really, Lawrence’s passion and commitment and enthusiasm is very endearing. It’s very persuasive.

“In this modern era, then Lawrence is unique in being the only properly active team owner. It’s a different feeling when you have somebody like Lawrence involved like that.”

“As I mentioned we have a strong team, some of which Adrian has already worked with. Adrian is going to be the technical managing partner of that team,” described Stroll when asked how Newey fits in with that vision for Aston Martin’s future.

“It’s not an easy thing to do to build a brand new factory and have a really nice, warm, creative feel to it,” said Newey. “I’ve seen some new buildings that haven’t quite fulfilled that. But this one has a great feel.

“I’m so looking forward to starting.”

Newey also addressed the new regulations.

“On the chassis side, the aerodynamic regulations will be announced first or second of January. I will be joining two months into that, and so it will be a case of getting myself up to speed as quick as possible,” said Newey. “The 2026 rules are an opportunity, whether we’ll be able to capitalize on that or not, we just don’t know, but I don’t spend too long fretting on these.”

“Adrian is key, key, key, and the biggest part of the puzzle certainly from a technical point of view,” said Stroll. “And I think that will have a trickle down effect throughout the whole organization.”

Some may view Newey’s decision to land with Aston Martin as a bet on Alonso. After all, in an interview with BBC Sport from November of 2023 Newey listed never working with Alonso as one of his “regrets” in F1. “Well, clearly first and foremost to have had a longer relationship with Ayrton [Senna],” Newey told BBC Sport. “In terms of drivers, Fernando is one I have always… That’s a regret that that never happened because I have a tremendous respect for Fernando.”

Now Newey will have that chance.

But given that Alonso is on the back nine of his driving career — the driver conceded earlier this summer that the end of his career is nearing — there is more to this move from Newey’s perspective. Alonso is part of the piece, but this is also a big bet on Stroll’s vision for Aston Martin, from the facilities down to the car itself.

Returning to that season-opening episode of Drive to Survive Stroll continues his remarks at the seaside gala with the following statement: “I had a vision of creating the greatest automotive, high-performance company in the world. To be able to fight and win is probably the hardest thing in the world,” said Stroll. “I’ve owned many companies in my life.

“There’s nothing like winning in Formula 1.”

But that was not all Stroll said in that episode. In a sit-down with Netflix producers Stroll added this ahead of the 2023 campaign. “We’re pretty confident, they’re both great drivers,” said Stroll. “We have a strong car and I believe with my vision, with my business sense, and with my wallet, I’ll be able to create one of the best Formula 1 teams in the world.”

Newey’s decision is a bet that Stroll is right, and this announcement is a bet by Stroll that Newey is the final piece to complete that vision.