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Adrian Newey’s decision to move to Aston Martin is a major story in Formula 1 for good reason. I won both my World Championships in cars designed under Adrian’s technical leadership, two of the 25 titles his cars have won for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Racing. He is brilliant at his job, he understands not only how to design quick cars but also a car that a driver can work with.

Although Formula 1 is a highly complex sport and top teams now employ 1,500 people or more, that team effort definitely requires good leadership. So although Adrian is definitely not designing everything, unlike when he started in Formula 1 in the 1980s, he now gives direction, sets priorities and thinks about the concepts that will give a car competitive advantage.

He is good at developing ideas, a real innovator, but instead of relying only on computer modelling and data, he adds a level human creativity which is important.

The Aston Martin F1 team already has a large team of engineers and designers, but if that structure can now be organised to suit Adrian, give him the freedom to lead, I do think we will see the team make good progress over the next 3-5 years. Particularly when the big regulation change takes place in 2026.

One important point is that Aston Martin will be running Honda engines from 2026 onwards. Adrian already knows them well and has designed championship winning cars during the Red Bull-Honda partnership, so I am sure this was another factor that he and Aston Martin boss Laurence Stroll will have discussed. All the major ingredients for success are in place, so long as the people reporting to and working with Adrian respond well to his leadership.

Although Red Bull Racing is now saying that its technical team is bigger than one man, it’s clear the team really valued Adrian as its technical leader over the last 20 years, so his loss must be significant. He decided to leave the team after this year’s Japanese Grand Prix in April, when the team scored its last 1-2 victory, also setting pole position and fastest lap. Since then Checo Perez has had a difficult season, while Max’s last victory came in Barcelona back in June.

It may be a coincidence that Red Bull’s drop in performance has happened in the month’s following Adrian’s decision to resign, but it’s difficult to see how a change of technical leadership and direction in the middle of the season has not had some direct impact.

As McLaren continues to narrow the gap to Red Bull Racing in both championships we wait to see if the reigning World Champions can fix the problems they have been having with the RB20 car. The next two races, in Baku and Singapore, will be fascinating to watch.

Take Note

Baku has seen victories for Red Bull Racing over the last three years, two of which came to Checo Perez, so we will soon find out whether the issues with the Red Bull RB20 are being resolved or not. Both Max and Checo have spent time at the Red Bull Racing factory in Milton Keynes since the Italian Grand Prix, including working in the simulator.

The Baku track is one of F1’s longest circuits with the largest number of gear changes per lap, heavy braking zones and that famous long straight which has produced a lot of excitement – and safety cars – over the years. You can expect plenty of close race action again this weekend.

Mika’s Tip

Although Ferrari took a fantastic win in Monza two weeks ago, and will be quick in Baku too, the more consistent performer at the moment remains McLaren. So I expect the red and papaya colours to feature strongly, particularly if it turns out that Red Bull has not found solutions to the problems which have been seen the so much less competitive in recent races.

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