Lawrence Stroll's old-school approach, Adrian Newey's competitive streak and Fernando Alonso finally getting the chance to work with F1's greatest technical mind.
All eyes and ears have been turned towards Aston Martin Aramco and Adrian Newey with the announcement that the team has secured the sport's most sought-after signature. Shortly after the landmark moment, Lawrence, Adrian, Lance and Fernando spoke candidly about the beginning of new a chapter…
1 | Lawrence on the biggest part of the puzzle
"Adrian is the greatest in the world at what he does. There's nobody who has come close to winning as many World Championships. He's a gentleman, he's a winner, he's a competitor, and he has the passion and desire to win.
"He will be the leader of our technical team. He'll be a leader also in the company, in the overall business, as a partner and shareholder. On a day-to-day basis, he'll be full-time committed to Formula One, giving leadership and direction to his team.
"He is the biggest part of the puzzle, certainly from a technical point of view, from a leadership point of view. He will be leading the team. I think that will have a trickle-down effect throughout the whole organisation."
2 | Adrian on a new challenge
"I needed a new challenge so towards the end of April, I decided I needed to do something different. I spent lots of time with Mandy, my wife, discussing, 'OK, what's next? What do we do? Do we go off to sail around the world? Do we do something different?'
"I just wanted to have a blank mind and take stock, enjoy a bit of a break. I was hoping that, standing in the shower, the spark would come of, 'Yeah, this should be the direction.' And Mandy was a big part of that, of our discussions and deciding what should we do. I think she was worried that I would probably drive her a bit mad if I was at home too much!
"If you say, 'OK, well, what's the pinnacle of human and machine?' Clearly, it's Formula One. So yes, I remain interested in America's Cup and I remain interested in many other things, but if I’m going to do human and machine, I might as well keep going at the pinnacle as long as people want me."
3 | Adrian on Lawrence's old-school approach
"Lawrence and I have known each other off and on over the years. We've often bumped into each other in the gym, particularly at the Middle East and Far East races, and when I announced I would be departing my old team, I was very flattered to have a lot of approaches from various teams, but really Lawrence's passion and commitment and enthusiasm was very endearing and very persuasive.
"The reality is, if you go back 20 years, what we now call Team Principals were the owners of the teams – Frank Williams, Ron Dennis, Eddie Jordan. In this modern era, Lawrence is actually unique in being the only properly active team owner. I think that does bring a different feeling when you have someone like Lawrence involved like that. It's back to the old-school model."
4 | Adrian on an iconic brand
"Arguably, next to Ferrari, Aston Martin is the most iconic brand in the world. It's got such a presence and feel to it. So, of course, that's special. It also ties in quite well because I was involved with the Valkyrie project and I have a couple of classic Astons as well, so I'm very familiar with the brand and the magic that goes with that."
5 | Adrian on his new home
"The facilities at the AMR Technology Campus are just stunning. It's not an easy thing to do to build a brand-new factory on a greenfield site and have a really nice, warm, creative feel to it because, after all, that's what we're here for – to try to be creative and come up with good solutions and have good communication between everybody that works here.
"This building has a great feel. The proportions are right. It has all the facilities. It gives us everything we need to do the job. I'm so looking forward to starting, to getting to know everybody here, to work with them, and go from there."
6 | Lawrence on the team's reaction
"What we witnessed was an explosion of applause from 800 or so people in The Street of the AMR Technology Campus. I've never seen, since I've been here, such a level of excitement at any announcement. We've obviously never made an announcement of this magnitude, but I saw everyone leave with a very big smile on their face and a hop and skip in their walk. So, hopefully they go back to the desk and figure out how to draw something a little quicker."
7 | Lance on a landmark day
"It's the most exciting day in this team’s history. Adrian has won more championships than anyone in the paddock, and now he's wearing green. 2026 is not far away and with a completely new set of regulations comes a lot of opportunity. We're constructing an incredible team with so many talented people, and now Adrian's coming on board so it’s very exciting."
8 | Adrian on preparing for the 2026 F1 regulations
"Any Formula One team is the same. You have three principal departments, which are aerodynamics, mechanical design and vehicle performance/dynamics. It will be a case of making sure that we try to have synergy between those departments and with Honda on the power unit side because there will be, probably more than ever, a big interaction between the power unit and the chassis. It's about trying to come up with a holistic product."
9 | Adrian on his method
"I like to get in and work with everybody, and I try to work in various ways. One is relatively solitary, which is standing at my drawing board and trying to create and come up with ideas and so forth. The second, and the bigger proportion actually, is working with my fellow engineers at all levels and all through the departments. And then the third is really going to the races, trying to understand what the drivers are feeling and turning their descriptions of how the car is behaving into an engineering language, and then trying to search for the solution."
10 | Adrian on what gets him out of bed
"Being a designer in motor racing has been my ambition since the age of 10 or so. I've been lucky enough to achieve that, but I still love the challenge of trying to outperformance the car. That's my prime motivation and what gets me up in the morning.
"And I think what's amazing about technical sports – by a technical sport, I mean that combination of human and machine – is you have that immediate feedback of how you're doing. It can be painful, of course, when you're doing badly, but you have that feedback."
11 | Adrian on his competitive streak
“I remember Frank Williams, I think it must have been in '91, said to me that he felt I was the most competitive person in the pitlane and I remember being a little bit upset about that at the time. I didn't really know what he meant, and I'm not sure he's right either. I wouldn't like to say, for instance, Fernando or Lance are less competitive, but I cannot deny that I am competitive in my profession, not so much in hobbies and so forth, but in my profession I am."
12 | Adrian on dealing with pressure
“My pressure comes from within. I put pressure on myself to do the best job possible. I suppose, perhaps because I have been fortunate enough to have had a decent set of results, I don't feel the need to prove myself anymore to the external world. That's never been my motivation anyway, my motivation is trying to do the best job I can and feel as if, regardless of what the results are, I've done the best job I can."
13 | Fernando on being in the same team as Adrian… at last
"We've been racing against each other for 22 years and I've been losing most of the races! Adrian is an inspiration and now I have the privilege and true honour to drive one of his cars, first the Valkyrie, then on track in Formula One. For me, it's an incredible opportunity professionally to work with Adrian, to learn so much from him and keep wearing this green colour that I'm very proud of.
"Lawrence's vision is taking shape with the Technology Campus, with Adrian, with Honda, Aramco, a new wind tunnel. We're definitely the team of the future."
SOMETHING NEW
A new chapter begins with Adrian Newey. Watch the announcement at the AMR Technology Campus.
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