Not exactly a bombshell news story as we kind of knew this was going to happen for the last 6 months. The problem was it could not be verified because Adrian Newey had to sit out his gardening leave. He can announce where he is going after the 6 month period is up which was yesterday and has another 6 months to sit out before he can physically start work at the factory.
The scary part is he has 6 months at home which he could design a totally new car in that time and I guess he would not be infringing or breaking his gardening leave. This is what he knows and does best and why he is the most successful racing designer n the world. The 6 month period having no distractions would theoretically mean when he arrives at Aston Martin in March next year their car for 2026 would basically be done and would only need to be manufactured and tested.
the 2025 car which he would not have had any hand in could then be tweaked ad if anyone is going to fid an extra performance boost it is Newey. The $200 million salary over 5 years has to be considered a bargain because he is worth more than 40 championship points per season.
I think his influence will be evident very early on next year and he could have paid of most of his contract by the end of next season through the teams extra points earned. The upwards trajectory the Aston Martin team will be on would be incredible to watch and even more so to be part of it.
It is not surprising Honda have come along for the ride by supplying the new engines which Newey knows all about having had Honda engines at Red Bull. This team will have a championship winning car by 2027 and who knows maybe even 2026.
The next big question is who s going to be driving this racing car and benefitting from having Newey in the corner. We know the car is the most important factor, but a decent driver is also required to maximise the cars potential. The team currently has Alonso and Stroll which will most likely see Alonso extending his career with no retirement announcements any time soon. He is 43 years old and his last race win was way back in 2013 which would make it a fairy tale story if he could win the drivers championship going out on a high. I wonder what the bookies odds would be having Alonso winning the title over the next 3 years?