'Not his strength' - Red Bull chief stunned by Adrian Newey appointment

Red Bull F1 advisor Helmut Marko has revealed that he was 'surprised' by Aston Martin's choice to promote Adrian Newey into a team principal position.

Newey and Marko worked together at Red Bull from 2006 onwards, claiming six constructors' titles in that time with Newey as a car designer.

The design legend has actually achieved 25 championships across his career with teams including Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, and now finds himself at Aston Martin hoping to turn them into a world championship-challenging outfit.

But, in rather surprising news, Aston Martin announced earlier this week that their managing technical partner would also assume team principal duties in 2026, with current CEO and team principal Andy Cowell taking on a chief strategy officer role instead.

While Newey has had an illustrious career in F1, he has never taken on a team principal position before, and his former colleague Marko has been left stunned by the news.

"That really surprised me," Marko told Kleine Zeitung.

"We'll have to wait and see how it works out in practice.

"That's certainly not his strength. His great strength is design, car tuning and quality in the production and development of a car.

"But I was very surprised that he will be moving more in the direction of team management."

Can Newey guide Aston Martin to championship success?

The whole idea of bringing Newey on board earlier this year was with Aston Martin's championship goals in mind.

New regulations are sweeping into F1 from next year, and that presents real opportunities for whichever teams can best master the changes.

It may well see a shake up in the current competitive order of F1, which could be great for current midfield teams who have ambitions of challenging nearer to the front.

Aston Martin have the resources, they have a two-time world champion driver in Fernando Alonso, and they have design legend Newey ready to provide them with improved machinery going forward.

But Newey as a team principal? Only time will tell how that pans out for the team.

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