Aston Martin F1 chief 'flattered' over Max Verstappen interest

Aston Martin chief Andy Cowell has revealed he was flattered by rumours that four-time champion Max Verstappen had shown interest in his F1 team.

Since Cowell's move into the position of team principal and CEO back in January, Aston Martin have welcomed F1 design legend Adrian Newey to the team after his exit from Red Bull last season.

Thanks to Newey's presence and the continued downturn in performance at Red Bull once the 2025 campaign had begun, rumours began to swirl about a potential move to Aston Martin for Verstappen.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso labelled the link 'flattering', a sentiment that Cowell has now also echoed.

Commenting on the rumours, Cowell admitted he was flattered by the link to the Red Bull star, saying: "Max showing media interest – I don't know what the right phrase is, but Max showing media interest is flattering."

"In his opinion, he can see that this is a team that's determined and that is taking the right steps."

Will Aston Martin change F1 lineup after 2026?

The Dutchman is technically contracted to Red Bull until 2028 and Aston Martin's driver duo of Alonso and Lance Stroll are set to drive for Lawrence Stroll's team until the end of the 2026 season, but this didn't stop the rumours from persisting.

Verstappen finally shut down the reports linking him to both Aston Martin and Mercedes at the Hungarian Grand Prix earlier this year, but with a regulations change on the horizon, there is a possibility that he could be tempted to leave Red Bull if Newey's creation looks competitive throughout 2026.

However, Cowell was quick to stress the value of Aston Martin's current lineup in the same interview, saying: "We are really fortunate that we've got Lance and Fernando, who've got great experience, carrying across through to at least the end of 2026.

"That means we've got drivers that we can just chat to openly about next year."

Now that the Silverstone-based outfit boasts the genius of Newey among their ranks, the team are hoping to build a car that will attract the best talent in the sport, not just Verstappen!

"When I chat to Adrian and when I chat to all the engineers, what we're determined to do is to come up with a really fast race car. And then we want every single driver with a superlicence to want to drive our car," Cowell said.

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