Lawrence Stroll now following Christian Horner’s Adrian Newey approach at Aston Martin

Lawrence Stroll is betting on Adrian Newey to help turn Aston Martin into a championship-calibre team.

After leaving Red Bull, Newey spent a period away from the paddock before making his return with Aston Martin in 2025. He came on board as managing technical partner, also taking an ownership stake in the team.

Later that year, Eddie Jordan helped him work out his contract with the team. Then, toward the end of 2025, Lawrence Stroll surprised everyone by naming him team principal on top of his existing role.

Newey’s track record includes big successes with Williams and McLaren. But while he’s known for being demanding and having strong results, his relationships within teams haven’t always been smooth.

The longest stable partnership came during Christian Horner’s time at Red Bull before Newey eventually left that project too. Now Mark Hughes has pointed out how Stroll is taking a similar approach to Horner’s when it comes to working with Newey.

Lawrence Stroll gives Adrian Newey the same freedom as Christian Horner did at Red Bull

Hughes spoke to Motor Sport Magazine about Newey’s move to Aston Martin and said: “So it’s a slightly different role now, but that team principal role does seem to be populated more and more by engineers, and Adrian Newey is the uber boss of everything at Aston Martin in terms of engineering.

“He has long raged against any control over him, and it happened at Williams. It was part of his dissatisfaction there, and it happened at McLaren with Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh.

“He felt they had to control his excesses, and he felt they didn’t understand the big picture, and they were limiting what he was able to do.

“And one of the reasons why Christian Horner harnessed him so successfully is that he just said so what do you want? What do you need?

“Well, you can do it like that. You want to come in here? You want to live there? That’s fine.

Hughes added: “So he held on to him for much longer. Lawrence Stroll just seems to have given him the keys to the factory.”

Stroll has handed over more control than even Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has ever shown as he remains passionate about overseeing all aspects of their operations.

Fernando Alonso’s experience key to Aston Martin’s 2026 F1 preparation

Just because the car was out on track in Barcelona doesn’t mean Newey’s job is done. His reputation for cutting it close with deadlines suggests the car we see at the start of Bahrain testing could look quite different from what hits the track in Australia.

Damon Hill believes Fernando Alonso’s experience will be vital during testing, with his sharp instincts helping Aston Martin get the most out of their new car.

Newey has also been impressed with Lance Stroll, and together, their combined experience could be a real asset under the new regulations.

While Newey holds significant influence over Aston Martin’s prospects, many factors still lie beyond his control. This includes potential issues with partners like Honda and Aramco, which could impact hopes of securing a championship with a fourth different team.