Adrian Newey: “Red Bull’s wind tunnel was one of the worst — Aston Martin needs more staff to succeed”. Adrian Newey reflects on Red Bull’s success despite poor facilities.

Adrian Newey’s jab at Red Bull
Aston Martin is living through two different seasons. On one hand, the Silverstone team is watching the AMR25 struggle on track — in Miami, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were lapped and had the slowest race pace on the grid — while on the other, they hold high hopes for 2026 and the work Adrian Newey is carrying out at the factory.

The British designer is fully focused on the next-generation cars and is the key figure in the team, upon whom the outcome of the sporting power grab Lawrence Stroll wants to make in 2026 will depend. In Silverstone, Newey was welcomed by facilities suited to his plans: a cutting-edge wind tunnel, a newly built factory, and high-level personnel poached from other teams — resources he did not always have at Red Bull. Adrian Newey himself highlighted this in his latest interview for Aston Martin’s website, even describing his former team’s wind tunnel as one of the worst in F1. Nevertheless, the efficient management of work and people allowed the Milton Keynes squad to claim a second set of four consecutive titles after the one won with Sebastian Vettel from 2010 to 2013.

Adrian Newey’s words
“Lawrence Stroll’s vision has created a great facility, the best in F1, but now it’s important that we optimise the way we use it. Once again, this is a people-driven sport. My previous team had one of the worst wind tunnels in F1 and operated from a bunch of unremarkable buildings in an industrial estate, but it managed to get everyone working together and develop a great group of people,” said the Briton.

“We have many talented people, but there are also some areas that need to be strengthened with more staff. And we have to make sure everyone works better together, using these tools and developing our capabilities.” – the legendary car designer conluded.