He's spent a career redefining F1 engine technology, and now he faces his biggest test: turning Aston Martin Aramco into a World Championship-winning team. 100 days into his tenure as CEO of the team, Andy Cowell reveals how he plans to make Lawrence Stroll's grand vision a reality in the latest instalment of our candid interview series, UNDERCUT.
"This is the best job I've ever had.
"We're attempting something that's never been done before in the history of Aston Martin, and to achieve it is going to take all our ingenuity, guile and determination.
"Yes, it's going to be tough. Yes, it's a little bit daunting. But that's when things get exciting."
Clearly, heavy is not the head that wears the crown. Andy Cowell is bristling with excitement at the thought of taking Aston Martin to the pinnacle of Formula One.
One of F1's greatest engineers, he has moved engine technology to a whole new level over the course of a career consisting of spells at Cosworth, BMW, Ilmor and Mercedes – as Managing Director of Mercedes AMG HPP he spearheaded the development of the dominant hybrid power units that powered Mercedes to seven consecutive Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships.
But Andy is more than just a brilliant engineer. An inspirational leader and skilled communicator, he's open, approachable and disarmingly down-to-earth.
In a far-reaching interview, Andy lifts the lid on his start to life at Aston Martin Aramco and what it's really like to be the CEO of a Formula One team.
You've spent several months in your role as CEO of a company that is on one of the most ambitious and exciting journeys in the history of Formula One. How are you feeling right now?
"Excited. I'm still as excited as I was on my first day with the team. It's a big responsibility, though. Aston Martin... is an iconic brand: a lot of history, a lot of investment and a fantastic group of partners that are as hungry for success as we are. I've been welcomed with open arms by everyone in the team, and the one thing everybody has in common is the will to win."
If you do the same as what's gone before or the same as what others are doing, you'll never reach new heights, you'll never win.
Arguably, no one is more determined to win than Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll. You work closer with him than anyone else. What's he like as a boss?
"I've got to know Lawrence a lot better since I started; he's fiercely passionate about Aston Martin, about making his vision for the company a reality. His message is clear and I wouldn't want it any other way – you always know where you stand with Lawrence.
"Whatever Lawrence does in life, he wants to be successful at it. He wants to win. He's a serial winner. If you look at what Lawrence has achieved throughout his career, sooner or later success follows. That's not by coincidence. That's a product of his relentless drive to be the best.
"Lawrence is determined for Aston Martin to be successful in Formula One, but we're not just talking about winning races and the championship, we're talking about winning many championships."
And is it your responsibility to make Lawrence's vision for the team a reality?
"Building a World Championship-winning team is our North Star. Everything we discuss relates to what is needed to make this vision a reality.
"My job is to work out what organisation is the right one to achieve this vision: Have we got the right structure? Have we got the right people in the right places? Have we got the right infrastructure? Is everyone pulling in the same direction and working as one cohesive unit?
"I set out the overarching targets for the executive leadership team and work with them to establish the path to reach these targets that are aimed at getting us to where we want to be. And I make sure we're prioritising the right things and working on things in the right order.
"Lawrence has put a huge amount of trust in me to lead this team to the front of the grid. It's very humbling and it's a great privilege."
Is it daunting at all?
"Sure, but there's no point taking on a project that's easy and doesn't challenge you. If you do the same as what's gone before or the same as what others are doing, you'll never reach new heights, you'll never win.
"To be truly successful, to win, you have to come up with a concept, with an approach that represents a huge performance opportunity. And if that concept is daunting, if it seems impossible to achieve and makes everyone in the organisation sit up and wonder how we are going to actually do it, then you're on the right path."
There's no reference point: you can't look at someone else and say, 'Well they've made it work, therefore it must be possible.'
So how do you make this possible?
"Break things down into bitesize chunks. Bit by bit you work through it. Motorsport is great for having clear deadlines – you know when the first race of the season is, you know what you're working towards.
"At the beginning, you think, 'How are we going to get there?' But as you progress, you look back and realise how far you've come. It's hugely rewarding and it fuels the belief that what you once thought might be impossible is actually possible. That's where the thrill comes from.
"It's OK to set a target that you don't know how to achieve when you first set out on the journey – a target that people think is impossible both in terms of time and performance. It's then a case of breaking things down."
Do you have to be comfortable with stepping into the unknown?
"Everyone wants the fastest car, but the only way you're going to get it is if you set targets that are really going to stretch you, that are wildly ambitious. That's what we're here to do – there's no point designing and building an F1 car that isn't the fastest.
"That fear you feel. That unknown. That trepidation. That question mark over whether something is even possible. That's where you need to be operating because when you're pushing that hard into uncharted territory, when you're going beyond what's gone before, that's when you're going to be outperforming your competitors.
"Formula One is all about competitive ingenuity. People in this sport are pioneers. You have to be if you want to fulfil the ambition of becoming a World Champion. And that is our ambition.
"There is no sport where becoming a World Champion is easy. Hard work is a given. It's not enough to come up with ideas that nobody else has come up with, you need to make those ideas work.
"And it's daunting because, if you're truly pioneering and using your ingenuity, there's no reference point: you can't look at someone else and say, 'Well they've made it work, therefore it must be possible.'
"But for me, that's what's really exciting. That's what makes this job, this sport, so thrilling."
2026 is a huge opportunity for us but it's not just about '26. It's about building a team that can achieve sustained success.
The team is ambitious but that hasn't always been reflected on the track. How have you set about changing that?
"My first task has been getting to know people. I've spent a lot of time talking to people: speaking to those within the business and those outside the business, such as our partners Aramco and Honda.
"My experience is all in power units, I don't have direct experience of the world of aerodynamics or creating a Formula One car in its entirety, so that's given me plenty of opportunity to ask lots of questions.
"Just talking to people and listening. The listening part is the really important bit. It sounds so basic but it's been crucial for me to get an understanding of who everyone is, what their roles are, how everything fits together, how the organisation is working, where things are working well and where things can be improved.
"The update the team brought to Austin for the United States Grand Prix last year provided a working example. It didn't deliver the performance step expected; it's been a case of digging deeper to understand why this happened and implementing changes so that when we bring our next update to the track, which will be our 2025 challenger at the season opener in Melbourne, we're in a better position and it does deliver what we expect."
In-season development has been inconsistent over the past couple of seasons. Does there need to be a shift in focus from quantity to quality of updates to ensure a better hit rate?
"There is no lack of effort throughout the team. We definitely won the World Championship for the most updates in 2024, but those updates didn't deliver the laptime – and what everybody wants in this business is to deliver laptime.
"That's not to say we must get it right every time. I've seen statistics that show that in true research and development environments, a 20 per cent success rate is high. If we can get a 20 per cent success rate then that's good, but the difference is that this needs to happen at the AMR Technology Campus and not at the track.
"We need to make sure that all our tools and processes at the Technology Campus are working well enough to ensure that whenever we take an update to the circuit, we are at least 90 per cent certain that it's going to work on the track and meet our expectations.
"It's not easy to achieve, but it's what we need to be aiming for. We've got very powerful CFD tools and the most advanced wind tunnel in the sport coming online but they are only simulations; there will always be the risk of data not quite matching up with what we find on the circuit, but our simulations can give us a robust steer and I'm confident we can get to the point where we're right 90 per cent of the time. That's the level that World Championship-winning teams are operating at so that needs to be our aim at a minimum."
With new regulations coming into play and the significant growth and investment in the team, many people expect 2026 to be the year for Aston Martin Aramco. How are you thinking about the 2026 season?
"2026 is a huge opportunity for us but it's not just about '26, it's about '27 and '28 and '29 and '30. It's about building a team that can achieve sustained success. Yes, '26 is important but it's just another step on the journey. 2025 is also an important step on our journey and we are focused on improving our performance this year and carrying positive momentum into 2026.
"We mustn't underestimate the scale of the challenge to bring all these elements together. We've got to make the transition from a customer team to a works team at the same time as the new regulations come into play, and we've got to design and manufacture our own gearbox along with other components of the car that have previously been supplied to us by Mercedes.
"We're partnering with Honda, one of the best power unit manufacturers in the world, who are hugely creative and motivated, and then we have Aramco developing advanced fuels for us and Valvoline providing us with best-in-class lubricants. We're fortunate to have these powerhouse organisations as partners, they're at the forefront of their respective fields and bring so much experience and expertise. Our new Technology Campus will be fully operational by 2026 and we've got some brilliant technical minds joining the team. These are just a selection of all the puzzle pieces that we've got to bring together."
And then there's the opposition...
"Every team is trying to set itself up for success with the significant change in the regulations, and you've also got a collection of power unit manufacturers that need to react to the regulation changes as best as possible.
"We've got to respect the fact that we're up against some mighty opposition, who are very well established. Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, these teams are exceptionally strong and, along with every other team on the grid, they will view these regulation changes as an opportunity.
"We can't control what they do. We can only control what we do. We've got to run our own race, focus on our objectives, our targets, and put all the pieces of the puzzle together as best as possible to seize the opportunity that 2026 presents."
How do you build a team that can regularly fight for the World Championship?
"This all comes down to building an organisation that's sustainable – sustainable in the sense that you're not compromising future performance by throwing everything at just one season.
"Yes, you need to be able to focus on the development of this year's car and you need a group of people focused on getting the best performance from the car at the track throughout the season, but it's also about making sure that there is sufficient focus on the development of next year's car and the car after that.
"You want to avoid a scenario where people are straddling multiple years because people tend to focus on immediate priorities and future priorities end up compromised.
"It's about investing in the future – investing in those new ideas that no one else has pursued yet and hitting those challenging targets.
"You need a group of people who want to climb Everest more than once – who are prepared to do whatever it takes to climb to the top and then do it all over again, and again, and again. That's the fundamental attitude and spirit that Lawrence and I are trying to build within the business."
At no point can you ever think you're perfect. If I ever say, 'That's perfection,' then that's the time to kick me out the door, that's the time for me to retire.
And how do you get the same people to embrace your winning mindset and deliver Lawrence Stroll's grand vision?
"You need to get people to the point where they trust that those around them are doing a great job. Every time they look up to see what people are doing around them, they should be in awe of the work that their colleagues are doing. I find this motivates people to work even harder, push themselves further and find ways of doing things better – because greatness tends to rub off.
"I want our people to think beyond the norm, to think creatively about the ways we can always improve on what we're doing – that's ultimately how we will end up being pioneers. That's the mindset I've been trying to instil from my very first day.
"At no point can you ever think you're perfect. If I ever say, 'that's perfection,' then that's the time to kick me out the door, that's time for me to retire."
The team has assembled the biggest collection of technical forces since the Mercedes F1 team that you were an instrumental part of at the start of the hybrid era in 2014. How are you going to get this technical structure to work?
"It's very much a case of trying to understand people, what their strengths are, how they can contribute to the overall objective, and then you've got to stitch the organisation together.
"Everyone should be playing to their strengths, so it's about working out what they are, how they fit in and how they can contribute to the car. It's up to me to make sure we've got the strength and balance in the team to deliver the best reward in terms of laptime."
Minimising losses is key to driving power unit efficiency – something you're well-versed in. How do you do that with people? How do you build an efficient and high-performing organisation?
"I think that very much comes back to people playing to their strengths and operating in the role where they can have their most positive impact on the car.
"I like to use the analogy of a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Each person in the team is a piece of that puzzle, but they need to know exactly what their responsibilities are and what everyone else's responsibilities are. Having this organisational clarity ensures that the pieces of the puzzle fit together well with no overlaps or gaps. Any overlaps or gaps are just inefficient.
"An efficient racing car is lots of downforce, minimal drag; an efficient organisation is great communication, no waste.
"People tend to become dissatisfied if they're doing exactly the same thing as someone else because it means that one of them is wasting their time. Equally, if you do a piece of work and then it just sits there waiting for the next person to pick it up, that's also frustrating. Organisational clarity drives out this kind of inefficiency."
Was that the motivation behind you also assuming the role of Team Principal and introducing a flatter organisational structure from the start of this year?
"Exactly. The changes are designed to improve organisational clarity and race car performance. That's why we took the decision to evolve the Aerodynamics, Engineering and Performance Departments into separate, dedicated trackside and AMR Technology Campus-based teams.
"The trackside team will be led by Mike [Krack], who becomes the team's Chief Trackside Officer, and the latter will be led by Enrico [Cardile] in the role of Chief Technical Officer, with both reporting into me. This restructuring means Mike's team can focus on getting the maximum performance out of the car at every Grand Prix and Enrico's team can focus on the complex challenge of creating a new race car."
Being CEO and Team Principal of a Formula One team sounds all-encompassing – unsurprisingly. What do you like to do outside of work?
"Given the intensity of Formula One, it's important to find the time to chill out and relax when you can. For me, the best way to do that is by spending time with my family and friends and walking my dogs."
It sounds simple, but perhaps that simplicity is what you need to balance out the complex nature of the industry you work in?
"Yeah, that's life outside of work for me, just chilling out. I enjoy nothing more than catching up with family and friends, chatting about life, the universe and everything."
What inspires you?
"I love the natural world. As an engineer, you try to better what nature's produced, but when you've been an engineer for a few years, you realise that you're never going to better what nature has produced. Nature is a great source of inspiration. Thousands of years of development, of evolution, can't be far wrong, can it?
"At this time of year, you see no leaves on the trees, but you know that in six months' time, miraculously, there will be leaves on the trees again. Wouldn't it be amazing if we could create devices with this similar regenerative property?"
Like self-healing carbon fibre? Sounds like something from Wolverine in the Marvel Comics.
"Well, it's not quite adamantium. [Laughs.] But it does go back to my earlier point of doing the impossible. Developing regenerative materials and devices might sound impossible, but perhaps it won't always remain a work of fiction. There are some very clever people out there who have already started trying to develop this kind of technology."
The origins of Aston Martin and the origins of your love of motorsport can be traced back to hill climbing. Is that something you've given much thought to since joining the team?
"It has crossed my mind, the parallels between the origin story of this iconic brand – the famous Aston hill climb – and where my love for the sport began. The Aston Martin story is one of brave innovation and pioneering spirit, and I hope to write a successful next chapter in that story.
"From the age of five I used to watch and help my father compete in sprints and hill climbs, and then about 26 years ago I built my own sprint and hill climb car which I still have to this day. I competed in a sprint with it last year and have taken to the circuit in it many times – that's where I realised that I wasn't the fastest driver!
"The aspect I really enjoy is building the car and getting it through scrutineering. I enjoy racing, but there are many more talented people out there who can drive a car quicker than me. I rely very much on making sure I've got a good, strong engine to drive past people down the straights. I then try to keep them behind through the corners!"
If only it were that simple in F1...
"If only! We can't just give Lance and Fernando a car that's quick down the straights, we need to give them a car that's quick through the corners, a car that's quick everywhere – a car that's faster than anyone else's.
"Can you imagine what it would feel like if we did have the fastest car...?"
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