SHOCK F1 move made official as jaw-dropping contract begins

A game-changing Formula 1 move has officially begun, with wide-ranging ramifications for the entire sport.

A contract that could be worth almost $200m for a single member of staff has started, in a move which could well completely alter the balance of power on the grid in the near future.

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Adrian Newey has been in the sport since 1988, and his car designs since joining Williams in 1991 have amassed 12 constructors' championships, 223 grand prix victories and 14 drivers' championships with the likes of Mika Hakkinen, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen achieving greatness in his cars.

However, Newey is now set for a huge challenge to turn around the fortunes at Aston Martin, having decided to leave Red Bull after 19 years of association for what is reportedly a five-year deal worth almost $40m a year.

2026, 2026, 2026!

There will be one clear objective for Newey in his new role as managing technical partner at Aston Martin; master the new regulations set to sweep into the sport in 2026.

While his arrival on March 3 may even be too late to have a huge impact on the start of the 2026 season, getting his head around the new rules and trying to find inventive solutions to the team's problems will be vital for their 2027 ambitions.

A lot of teams have already started to switch their attentions to 2026, with Alex Albon recently revealing during pre-season testing that Williams are more focused on 2026 than the upcoming 2025 season.

Newey's gardening leave at Red Bull has meant that he has not even been able to view the intricacies of the new regulation changes yet, with publicly available information all he's been able to get his hands on.

In his first week, the design genius may already get the feeling that Aston Martin have taken the wrong direction in their preparations for 2026, and his job will be to set them onto the path that he believes is the right one, even if that doesn't yield results until 2027.

New chassis requirements and advantages to be made from new aerodynamic innovations will be Newey's bread and butter, but with completely new power units entering the sport, the pressure will also be on Honda to provide the team with an engine capable of challenging for race victories.

The combination of an overhaul of chassis and engine regulations represent the biggest change the sport has seen to its regulations since 2014, when Mercedes' superior engine made them the dominant force in the sport for much of the next decade.

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Aston Martin's bleak outlook

Team owner Lawrence Stroll is a hugely ambitious man, and has piled plenty of money and resources into trying to get Aston Martin to become a championship-winning outfit.

2023 saw a real breakthrough for the team, adding two-time world champion Fernando Alonso to their ranks, and giving him a car capable of claiming eight podium finishes.

Alonso finished fourth in the drivers' championship in 2023, in what he described as the 'best season' of his legendary career.

However, 2024 saw the team fall backwards, not able to achieve a podium finish all year, and falling further away from the 'big four' teams in the sport, finishing fifth in the constructors' championship, but 374 points behind fourth-placed Mercedes.

2025 is set to once again be a struggle for the team, with Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz recently predicting them to be the eighth or ninth-fastest team on the grid come the season opener in Australia later this month.

"It's a blank canvas that Aston Martin, waiting for Adrian Newey," Kravitz said during testing. "I was going to give them the benefit of the doubt, until I spoke to Lawrence Stroll, who was leaving, I congratulated him on becoming a grandfather, and he was like, 'yeah, it's great being a grandfather, you know, fantastic'.

"And then I got to the point of the car, and I said, 'oh, the car looks better'". (Kravitz then imitated a disappointed facial expression pulled by Lawrence Stroll). "They've dropped back. I'm putting them, with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll on a good day, ahead of RB. I'm putting them eighth, but they could be ninth."

Kravitz's 'blank canvas' comments suggest that Newey will indeed get to work on the 2025 car, helping the team with upgrades to try and salvage something from the season.

It was originally thought that Newey would not be involved with the 2025 car development, but might a seemingly shaky testing and a seemingly poor car have changed Stroll's mind about where Newey's talents will be best deployed in the early stages of his new job?

Will Aston Martin win a world championship?

Regardless, Newey's role is set to be more of an oversight role, with the design legend now heading into the latter stages of his career.

He is largely considered to be one of the most influential figures in F1 history, and his world championship count shows the kind of ambition that Aston Martin have heading forward.

However, the team may want to use the experience and talents of Newey to try and find the 'next Newey' within their team, with future Mercedes-style dominance over the rest of the sport in their sights.

They have a long way to go to become a regular race winning outfit, and the earliest possible date for a championship challenge will probably be 2027, unless Newey really can have an immediate impact on their direction for the 2026 regulation changes.

Newey has long spoke of his desire to work with either Lewis Hamilton or Alonso, now there's a race against time if he's to produce a car capable of allowing Alonso to claim a third world championship, with the Spaniard now 43 years of age.

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