Hi friends,
A day late, but definitely not a dollar short. There’s plenty of things to talk about, so let’s just jump straight into it!
Top story of the week: Adrian Newey joins Aston Martin
Like I said last week, we’re going to end up talking a lot about Aston Martin this week as well.
Since Newey announced his departure from Red Bull, stories have placed him everywhere from Ferrari to Williams, and even designing submarines full time. But this week we finally got the answer: Newey is joining Aston Martin in March 2025.
Why is this important? It’s hard to understate how influential and successful a figure Newey is in Formula 1. Newey designs have won 220 races, 12 Constructors’ Championships and 13 Drivers’ Championships – and the RB19 holds the record for being the most dominant car in F1 history, with a win rate of 95.45%. Newey just knows how to build good cars.
But he doesn’t do it alone. The eventual success (or failure) of a design is also hugely dependent on the technical team he’s going to be managing. A team that includes former Newey Red Bull protegé Dan Fallows, and former Technical Director Chassis at Ferrari Enrico Cardile – Two very capable people in their own right.
On the flip side however, the general consensus is that the 2026 Formula will be much more dependent on the engine than the aero, which would beg the question: Are Aston Martin investing too much into Newey? To quote Alex Jacques: Right genius, wrong time?
The answer could very well have been yes, if it wasn’t for the fact that Aston has also sealed a deal with Honda to become their factory team from 2026 onwards. And we need look no further than Red Bull to see how a Honda designed engine has performed in recent years.
I’m no aerodynamicist or engine designer, but Aston Martin are definitely stacking the odds in their favour.
The rest of the stories this week:
- Engine manufacturers Alpine and Honda found to be in procedural breach of the 2023 financial regulations
- McLaren have asked Piastri to prioritise Norris for the rest of the season
- Indycar driver Pato O’Ward will do FP1 with McLaren in Mexico
- Fernando Alonso says he will still be racing beyond 2026
- Ferrari announced that Loic Serra will be the new Technical Director Chassis when he joins the team in October
- Mercedes have decided not to run their new floor from Spa in Baku
- Ollie Bearman replaces Kevin Magnussen for the Azerbaijan GP
- Hyundai has announced their plans to participate in the WEC Hypercar class
- Williams Academy driver Zak O’Sullivan has withdrawn from F2 due to a lack of funding
- Red Bull Junior Driver Arvid Lindblad will move to F2 in 2025
- Kyle Larson will do the Indy 500 again in 2025
- Williams and Komatsu launch the Komatsu-Williams Engineering Academy
- The Renault workers union (La CGT Renault) joins the staff at the F1 engine factory in Viry in protesting the expected end of the F1 engine program
- Lenovo extends their F1 sponsorship in a multi year deal, that also sees Motorola become the Global Smartphone Partner of F1
That’s it for this week. Until next time, thank you for being here.
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