Newey in Aston Martin, Alonso puts the brakes on: “One person alone doesn’t change things”

Newey to Aston Martin

The news that the whole paddock has been waiting for for months is about to arrive: according to what was reported by Daily Mail, Adrian Newey to announce his arrival at Aston Martin as early as next week. A huge contract (more like a top driver than an engineer) through which Lawrence Stroll hopes to relaunch a technical project that has had some unexpected hitches after the good start in 2023. Net of the suggestion linked to the arrival of the most successful designer in the history of Formula 1, the enthusiasm is contained: Newey would start working only next spring, evidently concentrating more on the single-seater of the 2026 revolution than on that of the current season. Fernando Alonsoin short, he will have to arm himself with patience and wait a long time longer.

Alonso brakes on Newey

At the end of the race in Monza, the Spaniard commented on the rumours linked to the possible arrival of Newey, maintaining a certain coolness: “Well, for now these are just rumors. And anyway I believe that it is not the job of one person alone to put things right.. So, the question now is more about understanding what we have and what we are working on, understanding what is happening and what is the right direction, so as to best prepare the 2025 season.”. Words that, in short, are not too far from those uttered a few weeks ago by the Ferrari team principal. Specifically, Frederic Vasseur had used a football metaphor, recalling that, despite many sensational purchases, Paris Saint Germain has never managed to win the Champions League.

Frustrating Italian GP

Newey or not, Alonso then spoke about how frustrating the current situation in the garage is: “There is nothing we can do, me and Lance are in the hands of our team and we try to do the maximum every weekend. In Monza I was quite happy with the car, I even pushed beyond 100%, but then I finished 11th. We have to be patient, understand that the goal is 2026”.

“At the same time – concluded the two-time F1 world champion – I think that as a team we can accept the fact that we are not fighting with the top four, because they are top teams that are clearly ahead of us.. But now we are also behind Williams, Haas and Toro Rosso (Racing Bulls, ed.) and I think we need to raise the bar. We need to do better than this. There is still time to react, we are only at the beginning of September and McLaren has improved from last to first in the class. A similar thing happened to Mercedes, who were at our level in the first four races and now they already have three wins. So, I’m not a fan of making excuses…”.