Aston Martin CEO Andy Cowell has confirmed that Adrian Newey's new office stands ready for his arrival on Monday.
Newey, 66, departed Red Bull last year amidst the team's internal upheaval and has since been on 'gardening leave.'
Consequently, he played no role in shaping Aston Martin's 2025 car, including the striking air intake design captured by long-lens cameras near the halo during Bahrain testing.
Cowell, formerly Mercedes' engine chief, only began his tenure at Silverstone in October. "Everyone is very excited to work with Adrian," he told reporters in Bahrain. "His track record speaks for itself.
"So we are looking forward to welcoming him and integrating him as you would with a new employee. Even though it might be a little bit different with him.
"We'll start working on introducing him to the key technical players in our company, show him the tools to design the car and then we will get down to work on creating a car for 2026 and contributing to improvements for 2025.
"I am sure he will get the hang of it much quicker than I did," Cowell smiled.
Significantly, he indicated that Aston Martin's primary efforts this year will centre on the comprehensive regulatory changes for 2026, coinciding with Honda's arrival as their works engine partner.
"For us, there are areas of our business that are already 100 percent focused on 2026," said Cowell. "So the conceptual engineering groups are focused only on 2026, because 2025 is already done from their perspective."
When asked if Newey's freshly prepared office at the Silverstone facility, complete with his renowned old-school drawing board, is set, Cowell grinned: "I could show you a picture, but there are too many of you here to look at my phone.
"But yes, the office is ready. The drawing board is there."
