Adrian Newey response to Aston Martin offer is imminent

Aston Martin has announced important changes within its organizational structure. Andy Cowell, the former head of the Mercedes engine department, will join the team on October 1st and become their new Chief Executive Officer. Martin Whitmarsh, currently CEO, will hand over his responsibilities before the end of 2024 to focus “on other projects.” Meanwhile, the Silverstone-based team is working on other big moves – most notably the acquisition of Adrian Newey.

Cowell in Aston Martin partly thanks to the outgoing Whitmarsh, Binotto was also in the running

Rumours about Whitmarsh’s departure have been circulating for weeks. These reports were also linked to the potential return of Mattia Binotto, who was also considered for the CEO role. For the avoidance of doubt, Binotto was never seen as a replacement for Mike Krack.

There have been discussions between the Italian engineer and Aston Martin in recent months. However, Formu1a.uno can reveal it was Martin Whitmarsh who recommended Andy Cowell to Lawrence Stroll.

Witmarsh and Cowell have a long relationship, which started with Mercedes providing McLaren with engines in the early 2000s. “I have known Andy for many years and brought him to Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains in 2004, where he became CEO between 2013 and 2020, achieving enormous success.

“He will be an incredible asset to Aston Martin and will make a significant contribution to the execution of our future strategy,” said Whitmarsh.

Curiously, Andy Cowell was also in talks with Alpine until recently. He then made the switch to sign with Aston Martin. Meanwhile, Mattia Binotto could take the opposite path. He was previously in talks with Aston Martin but is now highly sought after by Alpine and Flavio Briatore.

As we told you months ago, the Italian engineer has already rejected an initial approach from the French team. However, with the arrival of Briatore, the situation has changed. The idea of ​​​​becoming a customer team, as Alpine negotiates with Ferrari and Mercedesseems to make the French team a more attractive proposition.

There is a reason why Sainz halted negotiations with Williams to look into the proposition offered by Briatore. Sainz spoke with Briatore in an important meeting in Monte Carlo.

Numerous other seats are linked to Sainz, such as that of Ocon, who seemed headed in the direction of Haas. That said, the Frenchman has now reopened contacts with Williams.

For this reason, Haas will announce the signing of Oliver Bearman on Thursday. However, they will not confirm their second driver.

Aston Martin continues recruitment: Adrian Newey to respond in the next few days

Returning to Aston Martin, in addition to Andy Cowell, Ferrari’s current technical director, Enrico Cardile, will also arrive. As previously reported by formu1a.uno, Cardile has accepted Aston Martin’s offer.

No announcements from Ferrari or Aston Martin are expected on Cardile in the very short term. This is because important details are still being defined.

Cardile is still under contract with Ferrari, unlike Cowell, who was a free agent and not bound by contractual obligations. As happened in the case of Serra’s move to Ferrari, news that we gave exclusively in July 2023, the bureaucratic aspects of a contractual break usually lead to announcements being delayed by a few weeks or months.

Aston Martin’s recruitment campaign, however, is not ending anytime soon. The next target is Adrian Newey, who is now well known.

Newey recently made a private visit to the factory in Silverstone, as well written by our Dutch colleagues at De Telegraaf, and Formu1a.uno can reveal that Aston Martin expects a response from Newey in the next few days, more precisely within this week.

It is clear that Ferrari’s future will also be impacted by this response, with the Scuderia still in the running if Newey refuses the exorbitant economic offer and Lawrence Stroll’s project.

Of course, even if Newey rejects Aston Martin’s approach, the English genius has also been linked to talks with McLaren and Mercedes. Elsewhere, the Williams track seems to have definitively disappeared.