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Fernando Alonso texts Adrian Newey ahead of his arrival at Aston Martin

Alonso went all out to 'persuade' Newey to join Aston Martin

8 October at 19:00
Last update 8 October at 19:09

At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso explained how he 'persuaded' Adrian Newey to join him at Aston Martin. After the master designer left Red Bull Racing, every team wanted to earn the talents of the British designer. Newey made his choice after deciding he wanted to continue in the world of Formula 1, and he chose to sign with Aston Martin.

Many teams were competing to sign Newey, however, it was Aston Martin who managed to secure the services of the master designer, and he will join the team on 1 March 2025. While he won't have much input on the 2025 car, he will have a major say on the design of the 2026 car, making the most of the regulation changes.

Alonso tried to persuade Newey to Aston Martin

But speaking in Baku, after it was announced that Newey was joining Aston Martin, Alonso was asked how he, along with his team, 'persuade' Newey to the Lawrence Stroll-owned team.

"That's a question for him," started Alonso. "I texted him, for sure, like everybody probably did who wanted to work with him."

The Spaniard continued, "I saw him at the Monaco historic Grand Prix that he was racing that week as well. We spent half an hour chatting as well. We all tried to persuade him. Ultimately, Lawrence and, as I said, his vision, the new factory and what Aston Martin wants for the future together with Honda as well, were probably key factors listening to what Adrian said yesterday [after his announcement]."

This article was created in collaboration with Cas van de Kleut


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