Lawrence Stroll has personally addressed the ongoing speculation about Adrian Newey’s future at Aston Martin F1.
The team’s executive chairman and controlling shareholder released a statement through official channels, calling Newey his partner and an important shareholder, and defending the team’s unconventional leadership structure as deliberate.
“With the current speculation surrounding Adrian Newey’s role in our team, I want to take this opportunity to set the record straight. As Executive Chairman and controlling shareholder, I would like to reaffirm that Adrian Newey is my partner and an important shareholder,” Stroll said.
“He is AMR’s Managing Technical Partner, and he and I have a true partnership built on a shared vision of success for the company. We do things differently here, and while we don’t currently adopt the traditional Team Principal role that you see elsewhere, it is by design.”
The statement came after multiple reports, including one from Autosport, suggested Newey was set to leave the team principal role to focus solely on technical matters. Jonathan Wheatley, the current team principal of the Audi F1 project after nearly two decades at Red Bull, was named as his likely replacement.
What the rumours got wrong and what they got right
Aston Martin has not scored a point in the opening two races of the 2026 season. The AMR26’s vibration problems have reportedly been severe enough to risk permanent nerve damage to drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll.
That context made the reports land harder than they might have otherwise.
The team’s first response was restrained. A spokesperson said Newey “continues to lead the team as Team Principal and Managing Technical Partner,” and declined to engage further.
But reporting from within the paddock told a more layered story. According to The Race, Newey made clear when he took the position that it was meant to be temporary. He never appeared to embrace the role fully, even working the Chinese Grand Prix remotely rather than attending trackside.
PlanetF1 reported that the search for a new team principal had begun as far back as the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix. That was before Newey formally assumed the role, and well before the current on-track struggles. Newey himself was said to be leading the process.
Lawrence Stroll sets the record straight
Against that backdrop, Stroll chose to speak directly.
He described Newey’s remit as focused on strategic and technical leadership, supported by a senior leadership team across both the factory and trackside operations. The structure, Stroll said, was never built around a single all-encompassing team principal.
“As the most successful engineer in the history of the sport, Adrian’s primary focus is on the strategic and technical leadership, where he excels. He is supported by a highly skilled senior leadership team to deliver on all aspects of the business, both at the campus and trackside. We are regularly approached by senior executives of other teams who wish to join Aston Martin Aramco, but in keeping with our policy, we do not comment on rumour and speculation,“ Stroll added.
He also acknowledged that Aston Martin receives regular approaches from senior executives at rival teams. But he declined to address the Wheatley speculation specifically, citing the team’s standing policy on rumour and speculation.
What the statement effectively confirmed is that the “Managing Technical Partner” title is not a demotion. It is, by Stroll’s account, exactly where Newey was always meant to be.
