F1 Rumor: Adrian Newey Set To Announce £20Million-A-Year Contract This Week

Adrian Newey is rumored to announce a £20 million-a-year contract with Aston Martin.

Adrian Newey / Red Bull Content Pool

According to a report from Daily Mail, Adrian Newey is set to join Aston Martin under an eye-watering £20 million-a-year contract. Currently with Red Bull Racing, Newey is famed for his incredibly successful designs, which have led to 12 constructors’ and 13 drivers’ titles.

Newey’s announcement of his next move is due to take place on September 6, with an official announcement from Aston Martin anticipated soon after, according to the report.

The decision from Red Bull's chief technical officer follows an extensive evaluation of offers from teams including Ferrari, McLaren, and Williams. Ferrari’s aggressive courtship, spurred by Lewis Hamilton's endorsement, McLaren's pursuit influenced by the Crown Prince Salman of Bahrain, and Williams, where Newey’s stellar reputation was initially established during the Nigel Mansell era, were all bypassed. Aston Martin's state-of-the-art £200 million factory at Silverstone and future ambitions, including a 2026 partnership with Honda, were apparently decisive factors in Newey's choice.

The Silverstone-based squad has also recently recruited Dan Fallows from Red Bull and Enrico Cardile from Ferrari, who will become the Chief Technical Officer next season.

Newey explained when we announced his Red Bull exit ahead of the Miami Grand Prix earlier this year:

“Ever since I was a young boy, I wanted to be a designer of fast cars. My dream was to be an engineer in Formula One, and I’ve been lucky enough to make that dream a reality. For almost two decades it has been my great honor to have played a key role in Red Bull Racing’s progress from upstart newcomer to multiple title-winning team.

"However, I feel now is an opportune moment to hand that baton over to others and to seek new challenges for myself. In the interim, the final stages of development of RB17 are upon us, so for the remainder of my time with the team my focus will lie there. I would like to thank the many amazing people I have worked with at Red Bull in our journey over the last 18 years for their talent, dedication, and hard work. It has been a real privilege, and I am confident that the engineering team are well prepared for the work going into the final evolution of the car under the four-year period of this regulation set."

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso also recently addressed the rumors, stating:

“Well, there’s still only rumors, and I think it’s not only one man’s job to fix things.

“It’s more what we have now and what we are producing. Understanding what is going in the right direction, what is going in the wrong direction, and try to prepare 2025 in a better way.”