ASTON MARTIN ISSUE RESPONSE TO CHRISTIAN HORNER’S ‘PREMATURE’ ADRIAN NEWEY CLAIM

Criticised for their “premature” song and dance over Adrian Newey’s signing, Mike Krack says it was actually a “great announcement” for Aston Martin and one that gave them extra motivation.

After months of speculation about his next destination, having announced in May that he would be leaving Red Bull in early 2025, Aston Martin named Newey as their new Managing Technical Partner.

Signing Adrian Newey was ‘huge news’ for Aston Martin

And they did so in an event usually reserved for a big-name driver signing with Aston Martin dignitaries, team owner Lawrence Stroll, F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, as well as other higher-ups present along with the F1 world’s media.

The unveiling took place at Aston Martin’s state-of-the-art Silverstone facility with Stroll crowing about the “huge news” and labelling Newey as the “best in the world at what he does”.

“It’s the biggest story since the Aston Martin name returned to the sport,” he added, “and another demonstration of our ambition to build a Formula One team capable of fighting for World Championships.”

But the grandiose affair wasn’t appreciated by everyone.

“It was obviously a large announcement by Aston,” said Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, “and you know, Adrian has always tended to do his own thing.

“Obviously it was a big moment for that team, and they chose to celebrate it, perhaps potentially slightly prematurely, before he’s finished his contract with Red Bull Racing. But obviously it was a big moment for that team.”

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For Krack though it was just an announcement, a great one that was good for the team with Aston Martin following that up with their best result in eight races as Alonso claimed sixth place in Azerbaijan.

“It was a great announcement, it was a great week for us,” the Aston Martin team boss told the media in Baku after Sunday’s race.

“It was fantastic in the factory, in the campus. It was great here. You could like some extra motivation, and there is also much more attention from you guys [media] because of that.

“So I think it’s good for the team, it’s good for the brand. We achieved a good result.”

But while the P6 was a good result for Aston Martin, Krack concedes there’s still a lot of work to be done before Newey arrives in March next year, most notably design and build the 2025 AMR25.

Although Newey’s influence will not be felt on the first edition of the car that will race in Australia, Krack reckons it’s only a matter of time before the championship-winning designer makes improvements.

“We cannot sit down and wait for his arrival,” he said. “We have the ’25 car to do, which is running full steam in the wind tunnel and also in the design, so we cannot be distracted now by that and wait.

“So the ’25 car is going ahead, but then when we have Adrian’s arrival then obviously there is time still for him to have a look at the car and make improvements.”

2024-09-18T11:24:41Z dg43tfdfdgfd