Adrian Newey steps back as Aston Martin set to 'hire former Red Bull chief'

Jonathan Wheatley and Christian Horner in 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

Adrian Newey steps back as Aston Martin set to 'hire former Red Bull chief'

Adrian Newey will reportedly be replaced by an old colleague in the role of team principal

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Friday 20 March 2026 17:00

Adrian Newey will reportedly step down from his role as Aston Martin F1 team principal and could be replaced with a former Red Bull colleague.

The design legend was absent from last weekend's Chinese Grand Prix, where both Aston Martins were once again unable to complete a full race distance.

Now, it has been reported that Newey will step away from the team principal role he was announced to be taking on board just last November, with former Red Bull sporting director Jonathan Wheatley believed to be stepping into the position.

A report from Motorsport.com read: "Adrian Newey is set to step down from his team principal position at the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, where he’ll be replaced by current Audi team boss Jonathan Wheatley.

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"Motorsport understands Newey will step down in order to focus exclusively on technical matters, as Aston Martin has experienced a more than underwhelming start to the 2026 F1 season. Power unit trouble with new partner Honda means the Newey-designed AMR26 currently can’t complete a whole race.”

Aston Martin to replace Newey with rival F1 boss

After the first two race weekends of 2026, neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll have been able to complete a full-length grand prix, with the vibrations from Honda's PU so bad during last weekend's race that Alonso was forced to remove both hands from the steering wheel entirely in a bid to feel momentary relief.

But the harsh reality is that the team are battling a lot more than just power unit woes, with owner Lawrence Stroll clearly feeling Newey would be of better use in the role of managing technical partner, the position he was actually hired for.

As the man who has contributed to 26 championship-winning F1 cars now turns his attention to solely improving Aston Martin from a technical perspective, is it Audi F1 team principal Wheatley who has been named as Newey's successor.

But why would Wheatley make the move to a rival team when he has just got off the brand new Audi F1 project off the ground?

Wheatley lined up to leave Audi less than one year on

Wheatley became the first team principal of the rebranded Audi F1 team in April 2025, having departed Red Bull the previous summer where he had worked with Newey as sporting director.

Wheatley was one of the many talents that the energy drink giants lost in the aftermath of Newey's own bombshell exit, with the ex-sporting director harbouring dreams of one day leading a team of his own, something that didn't seem possible at Red Bull at the time given the long-term leadership status of Christian Horner (if only he'd held on that little bit longer).

The Brit then made the move to Sauber, where he became team principal for the remainder of their final season in F1 before being transformed into the first Audi F1 squad, something he previously seemed proud to be heading up.

Just hours before the news of the Aston Martin reshuffle, Wheatley was reported as still being content with his Audi role, with the team based in Switzerland, Germany and Oxfordshire, at the heart of the UK's motorsport valley.

But Wheatley realistically spends little time in his home country as Audi team principal and is believed to have taken an interest in the Aston Martin role due to its location, with the team's Silverstone HQ just 20 miles from Red Bull’s F1 base.

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F1 Aston Martin Adrian Newey 2026 regulations Honda Jonathan Wheatley