Helmut Marko voices shock at Adrian Newey promotion: 'Not his strength'

Helmut Marko has admitted surprise over Aston Martin's decision to hand Adrian Newey team principal responsibilities from 2026.

Aston Martin made the announcement on the eve of the Qatar Grand Prix, with Andy Cowell switching to the position of chief strategy officer.

Newey joined Aston Martin earlier this year following a near-20-year stint at Red Bull where he added more title-winning cars to his resumé.

The Briton has placed all of his focus on the 2026 car being designed under a fresh set of technical regulations.

However, he will increase his responsibilities next year by running the trackside operations, a move that left Marko amazed.

“That really surprised me,” Marko said, as quoted by Kleine Zeitung. 

“We'll have to see how that plays out in practice.”

Newey is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 car designers in the sport's history, building title-winning cars at Williams, McLaren and Red Bull.

Marko highlighted team management is not considered a strength of the Briton, insisting he is more valuable devoting time to developing the car.

“That's certainly not his strength. His great strength lies in design, car tuning, and the quality of production and development.

“But it has surprised me greatly that he will now be moving more towards team management.”