David Coulthard believes Adrian Newey’s Aston Martin appointment was a PR misstep
Photo by Paul Crock / AFP via Getty Images According to David Coulthard, Aston Martin’s move to part ways with Adrian Newey as team principal is a clear sign they agreed with the criticisms. The team is reportedly set to bring in former Audi boss Jonathan Wheatley once his gardening leave wraps up. Last week, Lawrence Stroll responded to rumours about Newey’s future, making it clear that he remains committed to him.
Instead of leaving the team entirely, the veteran designer will return to his old role overseeing technical partnerships. Newey stepped into the team principal role at the beginning of the season after an internal dispute with Andy Cowell. Since then, however, things haven’t gone smoothly.
With new engine partner Honda struggling, Aston Martin has started slower than expected and hasn’t managed to get either car across the finish line so far this season. David Coulthard says Aston Martin appointing Adrian Newey was ‘never’ going to work Speaking on the latest episode of the Up to Speed podcast , Coulthard gave his take on the situation. Having worked with Newey at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull, he took all 13 of his career wins in cars designed by him.
But despite Newey’s legendary status as an engineer, there were always doubts about whether he had the right background for such a role. The job requires political savvy that doesn’t come from a technical background alone. Coulthard called it a ‘PR own goal’ for the team, while Guenther Steiner agreed that Aston Martin were trying to save their ‘image’ by embarking on another management reshuffle.
“Having spent most of my career working with Adrian, I would never have seen him as a team principal. He is technically driven, he is a racer, he is a problem solver from a technical point of view. ” “The politics of Formula 1 which is what a team principal has to deal with a lot and the politics that are sometimes created with the media as well is not at all [suitable for him].