Four team principals in four seasons. Congratulations, Aston Martin, you’ve officially dethroned Alpine as Formula One’s most dysfunctional outfit. Even Ferrari, famous for eating their bosses every three years like clockwork, now looks like a model of stability compared to the Silverstone shambles.
The latest chapter in this corporate soap opera? Adrian Newey, the introverted design genius who’d rather spend time with wind tunnels than humans, is now your team principal. What could possibly go wrong?
When Your Former Boss Calls It Chaos
Let’s revisit Christian Horner’s 2021 assessment of Newey’s managerial capabilities, shall we? Speaking on a podcast, Horner cheerfully explained why Newey shouldn’t manage people.
“Adrian is an artist. There’s no point Adrian managing a bunch of people because it’d be chaos. He would be the first to accept that.” – Christian Horner
Horner knows Newey better than most, having worked alongside him at Red Bull for years. Yet here we are in 2025, watching Aston Martin do precisely what Horner warned against. Brilliant.
Cowell Gets the Honda Consolation Prize
The official spin? Andy Cowell graciously volunteered to manage the Honda power unit relationship. How wonderfully selfless. Never mind that it’s nearly December and most teams have already integrated their 2026 power units. Timing is everything, apparently.
The reality? Newey reportedly sacked some aerodynamicists he deemed inadequate. Cowell took offence at this autonomous decision. A rift developed. Cowell got shuffled to the “far end of the workshop” like a naughty schoolboy.
“That left kind of, ‘well who is going to be Team Principal’, and since I’m going to be doing all the early races anyway, it doesn’t actually particularly change my workload because I’m there anyway so I may as well pick up that bit.” – Adrian Newey
That’s reassuring. The team principal role is now something you “may as well pick up” because you’re there anyway. Like grabbing milk at the shops.
The Elephant Wearing Racing Overalls
Here’s the delicious irony nobody wants to discuss openly. Newey famously despised not being consulted on driver selection at Williams and McLaren. Now he’s got equity and the big chair at Aston Martin. Eventually, he’ll have to address the Lance Stroll situation.
The billionaire’s son occupying a Formula One seat whilst genuinely talented drivers languish in lower categories? That’s not exactly Newey’s preferred operating model. How long before the sleeping dog wakes up?
Too Many Chiefs, Not Enough Clarity
Insiders at Silverstone are reportedly “depressed by the chaos.” One source complained about “too many chiefs” whilst others scratch their heads at the confusing organisational structure. Lawrence Stroll allegedly told staff that Christian Horner won’t be joining the team, yet unnamed sources keep denying various rumours. Which is it?
Meanwhile, Newey’s conversational interview style already has analysts convinced his team principal role is temporary. His awkward demeanour in front of cameras suggests he’s about as comfortable with media duties as a cat in a bathtub.
“That’s what gets me out of bed in the morning so I’m determined not to dilute that.” – Adrian Newey on engineering
Translation? Don’t expect him to handle HR, PR, or finance. Someone else needs to do the actual team principal work whilst Newey focuses on what he loves. So who’s really running this operation?
The CEO Vacancy Nobody Mentions
Stroll insists the current structure will remain as announced. No temporary arrangements. No Christian Horner. Everything’s fine. Except the CEO role sits vacant, Newey wants to focus on engineering, and nobody seems clear who’s handling traditional team boss responsibilities.
The obvious solution would be appointing someone to the CEO position Cowell vacated. Someone to handle the tedious bits Newey loathes. But apparently, that’s “absolutely not happening.”
Perfect. What’s the worst that could happen when you put an uncomfortable-in-front-of-cameras design genius in charge of managing people, media, and organisation? His old boss already told us. Chaos.
