Lawrence Stroll, owner of Aston Martin F1 team

Photo: Race Pictures

Stroll ‘quite confident’ for 2026 after ‘monumental’ Newey signing

17:45, 02 Nov

byOlly Darcy

Lawrence Stroll is "quite confident" about Aston Martin's future in Formula 1, aided by the "monumental" signing of Adrian Newey.

"I provide the right leadership and let these people do their jobs."

- Lawrence Stroll

The signing of Newey from Red Bull was a major scalp for the British team, with the master designer taking the role of managing technical partner in March to focus on the 2026 machine, with several regulations changing coming into play next season.

Along with that impressive move, a highly anticipated partnership with Honda will also come into effect in 2026, with Stroll shaping the team into an intriguing prospect after buying and saving the team from administration in 2018, rebranding it from Racing Point to Aston Martin in 2021.

“There’s a loyalty behind this 112-year-old British iconic institution, this brand Aston Martin," the 66-year-old stated on Aston Martin's official website, as huge expectation surrounds the British team.

Adrian Newey joined Aston Martin in March after several successive years at Red Bull before leaving in 2024 - Photo - Race Pictures

“There’s a tremendous amount of British pride in this factory. They want to bring their national team to the top step of Formula 1.

“There’s always been a very high level of intensity in this sport, and I provide the right leadership and let these people do their jobs.

“I don’t know how to build or engineer a Formula 1 car as well as the engineers do, so I give them support, give them the tools, give them the people, the finances, give them everything they need in order to not have any roadblocks.

Newey 'extracting more' out of Aston Martin

There is plenty of excitement throughout the Aston Martin team about the 2026 season, with Lance Stroll stating that the work of Newey is "extracting and getting more out of everyone."

Along with Newey, the signing of new Chief Technical Officer Enrico Cardile shows the ambition of Aston Martin coming into the 2026 season.

“First was putting together the facilities. Most important was putting together the team of people. Obviously, getting Adrian Newey to join was monumental. He’s been with us since the beginning of March.

Aston Martin F1 Team owner Lawrence Stroll at the Singapore Grand Prix - Photo- RacePictures

“We have Andy Cowell [team principal], Enrico Cardile [chief technical officer], plus hundreds of other people. We have Honda being our power unit partner, and being a works team for the first time in our lives is a whole different experience.

“The whole team’s forming into place, and we’re looking forward next year to a huge rule and regulation change. The biggest challenge now is putting everything together, making it all happen. I’m quite confident it will, but you have to have the patience.”

However, preparations have not been perfect for Aston Martin, with the team admitting that it breached the cost cap during the 2024 season. An Accepted Breach Agreement was triggered as a result.

GPblog's latest F1 Paddock Update

Want to stay up-to-date with what happens in the F1 paddock? Then GPblog's F1 Paddock Update video is the perfect way to do it. Subscribe to GPblog's YouTube channel and turn on notifications to never miss the latest episodes.