March 3, 2025: A historic date for Aston Martin, Newey AND Verstappen?
Red Bull Contentpool
General
- Ludo van Denderen
In a few years, the date 3 March, 2025 may just turn out to be a historic one in Formula 1 history. For this is the day Adrian Newey will officially start at Aston Martin. Will he manage to make the ambitious team as successful as he did previously with Red Bull Racing? In any case, one man is keeping a close eye on Aston Martin's development.
Adrian Newey is not impunctual. No doubt one of the first to walk into the brand-new Aston Martin F1 Team factory this morning, the now 66-year-old Briton shaking hands with his new colleagues and looking around the green brigade's facilities.
How owner Lawrence Stroll has transformed the ailing Racing Point into Aston Martin in recent years, a team going for nothing less than world titles, is admirable. Nothing but the best people in the F1 paddock had already been recruited and this day the absolute icing on the cake has been added. Adrian Newey can finally get to work following his gardening leave.
Aston Martin 2025 car has areas for improvement
With the car for the 2025 season already presented and on the track during testing in Bahrain, Newey will surely try to fine-tune details of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll's contender. Newey's eye is much needed in this regard, as in the Middle East the AMR25 did not prove as stable as hoped. Therefore, Alonso suspects that Aston Martin will face a similar season to 2024: in the anonymous midfield.
It is up to Newey to make sure 2026 is better. Much better. The focus of the best ever designer in Formula 1 is therefore on building a car that can compete for Grand Prix wins - maybe even the title - after the rule change and with the Honda engine. Whether that will succeed? Always wait and see. But if there is one person who can turn Aston Martin into a top team, that's Newey.
Will Verstappen be Aston Martin's next big signing?
With this outlook, 3 March 2025 could be a historic day. Is this the moment when Aston Martin actually started transforming from midfield to top team? A question that concerns not only everyone within Aston Martin, but also one that Max Verstappen would like to see answered.
It is no secret that Aston Martin - and certainly Adrian Newey - wants to bring Verstappen to the team. But the Red Bull Racing champion will only consider such a move if he sees potential in the Aston Martin project. And so that is up to Newey. Then, who knows, maybe another historic moment for the British team will follow at some point, when Verstappen signs his commitment with Aston Martin?
This article was written in collaboration with Norberto Mujica.
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