Stroll sends Newey message as Aston Martin links intensify

Lawrence Stroll has described Adrian Newey as "the most talented and gifted individual" in F1, with Aston Martin set to announce the capture of the Red Bull designer.

RacingNews365 reported on Tuesday that Newey is set to reject the opportunity to move to Ferrari for 2025, and instead will join forces with Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin, with an announcement expected before the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on September 14th. 

Newey announced in May that he would be stepping down as Red Bull chief technical officer by the end of the first quarter of 2025 after 19 years, with Ferrari and Aston Martin two teams heavily-linked to his services.

Despite previous attempts to sign him, Ferrari looks once again to have failed to capture Newey, who would be considered the centrepiece of the Aston Martin project executive chairman Stroll has invested in, including a brand-new factory and state-of-the-art wind tunnel which is expected to come online imminently.

Talking about Newey's situation, Stroll explained any F1 team would be "excited" to have Newey join.

“Adrian is clearly the most talented and gifted individual in Formula 1 based on his track record and history,” Stroll told Bloomberg. 

"So I’d be very excited for Adrian to join our team, as I think every other Formula 1 team on the grid would feel exactly the same."

When pushed as to whether he was doing as much as possible to sign Newey, the Canadian billionaire added: "You can definitely assume that."

Newey's future

The team has failed to recapture its form of 2023 in this season's championship, with just 74 points on the board compared to 217 after the '23 Italian GP, with seven podiums 12 months ago compared to a best finish of fifth thus far in '24.

For 2026, the team will have a works power unit supply, teaming up with Honda, with this season being the target for major steps forward towards challenging for the world titles given the new technical regulations coming into force.

Teams will be able to put their 2026 designs in the wind-tunnel from January 1st, 2025, with Newey free to work for a new team once the second quarter of the year starts - April 1st. 

The legendary designer has been helped through the exit negotiations from Red Bull and with potential suitors by ex-F1 team boss turned pundit Eddie Jordan, with the Aston package apparently having been the most tempting. 

However, Jordan kept his cards close to his chest when asked by BBC Sport for comment on the situation, simply explaining: "I am not prepared to answer - I will not be forthcoming in any shape or form."