Aston Martin chief Andy Cowell says the team must “harness” and “not stifle” Adrian Newey’s creativity when the legendary designer joins in March.

Aston Martin announced in September that they had signed Newey as managing technical partner following his exit from Red Bull after almost two decades with the Milton Keynes squad.

The hope is that Newey’s arrival, along with several other recent high-profile arrivals including Cowell, can propel the team to championship contention when new regulations are introduced for the 2026 season.

Newey, who designed championship-winning cars at Williams and McLaren before his success with Red Bull, left the latter after an apparent breakdown in his relationship with team principal Christian Horner.

Asked whether he will ensure Newey has the freedom to operate as he pleases at Aston Martin, Cowell told Sky Sports News: “Absolutely.

“Adrian is very competitive, he’s very creative, and as an organisation we need to harness that, not stifle it.

“All the people that operate in the creative area, how do we provide an amazing environment – both personally as you come to work, [and] as you work in the building with other people?

“How do we make sure the tools are top drawer – the CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics), the wind tunnel, the manufacturing facilities? And therefore I think that’s the thing that inspires creative people.”

Former Mercedes engine boss Cowell, who oversaw an unprecedented period of success for the Silver Arrows, joined Aston Martin as group chief executive officer in October last year, before deciding to take over from Mike Krack as team principal in January.

Cowell is under no illusion about the level of expectation facing the ‘dream team’ assembled by hugely ambitious Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll to produce a car – for his son Lance Stroll and two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

He said: “We’re working exceptionally hard to make the racing car our prime focus, to work together in a collaborative way, a high-performance team.

“We believe by working like that we’ll get quicker and quicker. We want to win races, we want to win championships, we would like our drivers to be first and second in the drivers’ championship, and we’d love to win back-to-back championships.

“That’s the dream, to have the racing green car to see the chequered flag first, and to do it race after race after race.

“But we’re realistic, we understand that our opponents are exceptionally strong and therefore we need to set tough targets, both in terms of performance and the time that we achieve them, and not leave any gaps, not have any regrets as we go forward.”

Restructure designed to make team ‘more efficient’

The team took a major leap forward in 2023 as they began the season as a surprise closest challenger to Red Bull, but have failed to build on that momentum.

While they finished fifth in the constructors’ standings for a second successive season in 2024, the gap to Mercedes, who finished both campaigns in fourth, grew from 22 to 374 points.

Given Stroll’s ambition, it was hardly surprising when an ‘organisation restructure’ was announced in January, with Krack becoming chief trackside officer and Enrico Cardile chief technical officer following his arrival from Ferrari.

Cowell said: “Lawrence was very clear that he wanted me to lead the team, work out what to do, how to inspire everybody, to set the mission, and do it. I’m enjoying that challenge.

“One of the first things that we do in the first few months is to look at the organisation and see how it’s working, and I think the changes that we’ve made help make the organisation more efficient.

“A flatter organisation, less layers of management, always makes communication better, makes it more efficient.

“My style is to go and see what’s going on, to see what’s happening within the engineering area, recruitment, IT, and to try to balance all of those areas up.”

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