Aston Martin 'interested' in signing Red Bull F1 design genius after Adrian Newey's nightmare start

Adrian Newey, Aston Martin, Bahrain, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Aston Martin 'interested' in signing Red Bull design genius after Adrian Newey's nightmare start

Aston Martin could be set to make a swoop for the former Red Bull designer

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Saturday 28 February 2026 17:58

Aston Martin are reportedly interested in signing another F1 design legend to help Adrian Newey, according to Italian media.

Newey joined the team last March having previously worked with the likes of McLaren, Williams and Red Bull in his illustrious career, claiming 26 championships in that time.

The 67-year-old joined the Silverstone-based outfit initially as their managing technical partner, but has since become Aston Martin's team principal as well, overseeing the performance of his first Aston Martin car, the AMR26.

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However, 2026 pre-season testing did not go well for Aston Martin, with the team completing the fewest laps out of all the outfits, being plagued by reliability issues.

While most of the blame for this has been taken on by Aston Martin's power unit manufacturers Honda, there's no doubt that Newey will be working hard to try and improve performance from a chassis point of view too, amid the new 2026 regulations.

And now, reports have suggested that Aston Martin want to sign one of Newey's former Red Bull colleagues to help the Brit when it comes to the chassis design.

Craig Skinner worked with Newey at Red Bull between 2006 and 2024, winning six constructors' championships in that time, before becoming chief designer in 2022.

However, last week it was announced that Skinner has now left Red Bull, and Gazzetta are reporting that Aston Martin are interested in acquiring his services.

The above publication stated that Skinner likely has a six-month gardening leave period since vacating his position at Red Bull which will leave him unable to jump straight into a role with a rival, but that Aston Martin are keen on adding his plethora of experience to their team.

GPFans have contacted Aston Martin for comment.

Newey's stellar career

Newey and Skinner combined at Red Bull for 14 championships all-told, but the senior member of that pairing already had 12 under his belt before joining the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

The 67-year-old has been in the sport since the 1988 season, when his first design took to the track for the March team (later Leyton House).

Newey was then snapped up by Williams as their chief designer, designing the formidable cars that allowed Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost to win drivers' championship titles in back-to-back seasons in 1992 and 1993.

In 1996, he opted to leave Williams and become technical director at McLaren, winning further championships with that team with Mika Hakkinen benefitting greatly from Newey's designs.

He then moved to Red Bull in 2006 and helped turn the new outfit into a championship-winning machine from the role of chief technical officer.

F1 Red Bull Aston Martin Adrian Newey