Fernando Alonso revealed he had a secret chat with Adrian Newey around the time of the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix in a successful bid to coax the legendary designer to Aston Martin for the 2025 Formula 1 season.
Newey is responsible for 25 world championships in 32 years since becoming a technical director, shocked the paddock when he announced an out-of-the-blue decision to quit Red Bull following their incredibly dominant 2023 and equally dominant start to 2024.
In the end, Newey committed his future to Lawrence Stroll’s team after being impressed by the set-up and organization of Aston Martin as well as the 43-year-old Alonso, who also a big draw for the 65-year-old.
And the two-time F1 world champion revealed he made sure he played his hand in landing Newey across the Historic Monaco GP weekend from May 10-12, as he embarks on his own personal quest for a first race win since 2013 and first title since 2005.
“I texted him for sure,” Alonso told members of the media, including Total-Motorsport.com. “Like everybody did that I wanted to work with him.
“And I saw him also at the Monaco Historic GP that he was racing that week as well and we spent half an hour chatting. We all tried to persuade him.
“I think, ultimately, Lawrence [Stroll] and his vision the new factory and what Aston Martin wants for the future to work with Honda as well were probably key factors. Listening to what Adrian said yesterday.”
Why did Adrian Newey join Aston Martin?
Stroll, the billionaire father of Alonso’s teammate, Lance, acquired the team in 2019 following the collapse of Vijay Mallya’s Force India outfit and since then he has invested a substantial amount of his personal fortune.
Bringing on some of the sharpest technical minds in the sport such as Dan Fallows, Enrico Cardile, Andy Cowell and Newey himself, Stroll has also given them a brand new factory and wind tunnel to work with.
He has also coaxed Honda back into F1 in an exclusive partnership ahead of the 2026 regulations, which will place an even greater emphasis on electrical power than the turbo-hybrids of the present, as well as doubling the amount of staff at the team.
An unsurpassed record of 25 F1 world championship titles.
A statement of the team's ambition. pic.twitter.com/cYVaR0rhWi
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) September 10, 2024
Along with Alonso, these were all considered pivotal factors for Newey to choose Aston Martin as his next home as Managing Technical Partner despite interest from more historic teams with proven records such as Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren.
“Lawrence is determined to create a world-beating team,” Newey told Aston Martin in a statement. “He is the only majority team owner who is actively engaged in the sport.
“His commitment is demonstrated in the development of the new AMR Technology Campus and wind tunnel at Silverstone, which are not only state of the art but have a layout that creates a great environment to work in.
“Together with great partners like Honda and Aramco, they have all the key pieces of infrastructure needed to make Aston Martin a world championship-winning team and I am very much looking forward to helping reach that goal.”
