Christian Horner has been told Aston Martin “don’t need him” after naming Adrian Newey as their new team principal. The surprise appointment came after it emerged in Las Vegas last weekend that current boss Andy Cowell was on the verge of being replaced after less than a year in the role.
Former Red Bull chief Horner was immediately linked with the job having made it clear he wants to get back into Formula 1 next year. But legendary car designer Newey was named instead, with Cowell moving into a different role more focused on their new Honda engine partnership.
Aston have another former team principal in their ranks with Mike Krack now leading their trackside personnel, while billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll is also heavily involved. And while star driver Fernando Alonso admits it is not his call, he does not believe there is any room to add Horner into that mix.
The Spaniard said: “I think with Adrian taking the role now, Andy taking different responsibilities as well and very capable of doing good things, Lawrence – a great leader, determined, maximum commitment always – I don’t think we need any more people in the management. But, obviously, it’s not my decision.”
Newey’s appointment came as something of a surprise, given the early front-runner for Cowell’s job had been former McLaren chief Andreas Seidl. Alonso admitted he “didn’t really” see the move coming either, but believes it is “good news” for their ambitions of becoming a front-running team.
The double world champion said: “He was anyway managing, in a way, the technical development of the car, but also the team, the people that was needed and taking care of which areas we need to reinforce as a team, which other areas were less important
“So, in a way, he was doing internally, a lot of management, and Andy was doing a lot of management as well on the engine side and engine integration to the chassis. I mean, it was maybe a normal logical step into 2026, so we have probably the two best people. One [Newey] doing the chassis and the team, one [Cowell] the engine integration and the team as well.
“We have a very strong leader with Lawrence, with the determination that Lawrence has and the commitment that he has shown for many, many years already. So, between the three of them, I think we are in good hands. So, let’s move into 2026 with hopefully a better car.”