Fernando Alonso has said that he thinks Aston Martin will be a force to be reckoned with now that he finally has the opportunity to work with legendary designer Adrian Newey.
Newey will join the team as managing technical partner from Red Bull in March next year, an impressive coup for ambitious Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll.
Stroll has invested heavily in both personnel and facilities to ensure Aston Martin has a chance to become F1’s lead team when the regulations change in 2026.
Two-time world champion Alonso, signed on for another two seasons with the team, has never been colleagues with Newey, whose cars have won races and championships across four decades with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull.
“We’ve been racing against each other for many years,” Alonso said during Newey’s unveiling event at Aston Martin’s brand new Silverstone headquarters on Tuesday.
“I would say he has been more an inspiration and I think thanks to Adrian and his talent and cars, we all got better as drivers, as engineers, teams, you know, we all had to raise the bar thanks to him to be able to compete.
“Today is an incredible day for the team. Lawrence’s vision is taking shape with this building, with Adrian, Honda, with Aramco, new wind tunnel. Definitely the team of the future I would say. For me, it’s going to be an incredible opportunity professional to work with Adrian and to keep working this green colour which I’m very proud to be part of.”
Newey will join a team of high-profile engineers Lawrence Stroll has poached from other teams, including his former Red Bull colleague and current Aston technical director Dan Fallows.
Alonso added: “Incredible opportunity we have to witness and to work with Lawrence and with everyone at Aston Martin. Definitely we are learning a lot of things off track and on track. It is part of our growth personally as well.”
A sliding doors moment of the 43-year-old’s career was when he had the option of joining the Red Bull team in 2009.
It was not the dominant force it is today and Alonso declined the opportunity, choosing to drive for Ferrari in 2010 instead — Red Bull went on to win four straight championships, twice denying Alonso on the final race of the season.
Newey said he is relishing the chance to finally work with the Spaniard.
“Fernando of course… We’ve battled against each other for so many years,” he said. “He’s been a bit of kind of arch-enemy at times. We came so close to him joining Red Bull in 2008 for the 2009 season but unfortunately it didn’t quite happen, which is a great shame. So we continued to battle against each other. He’s a legend of the sport so very much looking forward to working with him.”
Newey will also work with Alonso’s teammate, Lawrence Stroll’s son Lance, in the other car.