Adrian Newey ‘not doing well’ amid Aston Martin turmoil, says close F1 confidante

Adrian Newey is “not doing well” given Aston Martin ’s current plight, revealed his former close confidante Helmut Marko. Newey joined Aston a year ago after 20 years and 13 world championships at Red Bull , where he worked closely with Red Bull’s former head of driver development, Marko. Yet one of F1 ’s greatest designers has faced intense scrutiny following Aston’s disastrous start to the 2026 season, having taken on the team principal role at the start of the year.

A myriad of issues with Aston’s new power unit provider Honda have resulted in dangerous vibrations on the Aston car, with drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll concerned about “permanent nerve damage” , such is the violent level of the oscillations. “I had contact with him [Newey],” Marko told Austrian outlet oe24 . “He’s not doing well.

“There are problems with this project that won’t be solved quickly. ” Latest reports suggest Newey is set to step down as team boss for Jonathan Wheatley, another former Red Bull member of staff, whose surprise exit from Audi was announced last week . Newey revealed at the first round in Australia that Aston were only aware of Honda’s precarious position – and their lack of personnel – at the end of last year.

Newey said: “We only really became aware of it kind of November of last year when we, Lawrence [Stroll], Andy Cowell and myself, went to Tokyo to discuss, as rumours started to suggest that their original target power wouldn’t be achieved for race one. “Out of that came the fact that many of the original workforce had not returned when they restarted. ” Adrian Newey has endured a difficult start to life as Aston Martin team principal (Getty) Newey worked with Helmut Marko (right) for 20 years at Red Bull (Getty Images) Marko, meanwhile, believes the cancellations of races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia next month will give crucial time for Red Bull to narrow the gap to the frontrunners.