Adrian Newey claims Red Bull 'lost belief' in F1 as ‘deja vu’ sets in at Aston Martin

Adrian Newey has compared his arrival to Aston Martin to when he first joined Red Bull as the F1 legend reflected on his career.

The Brit treated F1 fans to a blockbuster silly season in 2024, when he announced he was leaving Red Bull after an 18-year career that started with the team in 2006.

Newey didn’t arrive to a team that was already in the habit of winning titles however, with his signing for the 2006 season just one step in the right direction to becoming regular championship challengers.

Red Bull, who purchased and took over Jaguar Racing ahead of the 2005 campaign spent their first four years on the grid in the doldrums of F1, settling for minor points finishes and only earning a season best result of fifth in 2007.

The 2009 regulation changes and the arrival of Sebastian Vettel helped transform Red Bull’s fortunes around, as the hard work over the years finally began to pay off with a victory for the German driver at the Chinese Grand Prix.

From then on the rest is history, with the team boasting eight drivers’ titles, six constructors’ and the fealty of Max Verstappen for the 2026 season despite whispers of a move to a rival team.

Can Aston Martin enjoy a similar rise to Red Bull?

In joining Aston Martin, Newey finds himself in a similar position as to when he first joined Red Bull, at a team that remains stagnant in the midfield and unable to take that extra step to become regular F1 race winners.

During a conversation on the James Allen On F1 podcast, Newey was asked to compare his arrival at both Red Bull and Aston Martin, where the legendary designer revealed Red Bull was a team that had ‘lost belief’ in the beginning.

“Red Bull when I started was the ashes of a team, Jaguar, which had been under Ford management for many years and hadn’t had any significant success,” Newey explained.

“People had started to lose belief that they could ever win a race and once you start believing you can do that, then everything goes wrong because complacency sets in, laziness sets in, lack of self belief creeps in. If you’re not careful, blame culture can set in as well.

“So that was a difficult thing to overturn at Red Bull. And I don’t want to say too much, but there is a bit of deja vu at the moment [at Aston Martin].

There are several trite quotes I could pedal out in reference to ‘history’ and it ‘repeating itself’, with the parallels between Red Bull and Aston Martin enough to suggest that the British team could one day soar up the order.

For Newey however, such superstition is counter-productive and with the 2026 regulation changes, there are no certainties for F1 teams.

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