Why Adrian Newey’s private Alonso talks are so important for Aston Martin
Around 20 years ago, Adrian Newey went to the esteemed driver coach Rob Wilson with something playing on his mind.
Newey, then of McLaren, could not help but notice at the United States Grand Prix – in those days held at Indianapolis – that Kimi Raikkonen was constantly varying his approach to Turn 1.
There is a widespread perception that a racing driver must approach a lap much like a bowler might approach his task in cricket.
All line and length. Accuracy. Consistency. Finding a braking point, identifying a reference point by the side of the track, and sticking to it.
Driving the same corner the same way 70 times and hoping to do it in a shorter time than anyone else.
Yet Wilson, who had spent time coaching Raikkonen in his little Vauxhall Astra, showed Adrian a different way.
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Kimi, he explained, was merely adjusting to the ever-changing circumstances of the race – the fuel load coming down; the tyres being one lap older every time he arrived at the corner; more rubber on the track, maybe some oil too; changes to the wind.
Raikkonen was considering all of these factors every time his left foot touched the brake pedal at Turn 1.
And so while every lap may have looked the same – what is motor racing, after all, but driving around in circles? – each one was to some degree an adventure, a venture into the relatively unknown.
It is a tale, often told by a veteran F1 voice, that captures Newey’s commitment to considering what makes his drivers tick.
An amateur racing driver himself, he wants to speak their language; see what they see; feel what they feel.
It is that trait, perhaps more than any other, that sees Newey stand head and shoulders above his engineering peers.
Why has Red Bull lost its way so dramatically over recent years, its competitive decline pretty much coinciding with the day Newey walked out the door?
Simple: it has lost that special nuance – that unique interface – Newey brought to the relationship between the engineering team and Max Verstappen.
Newey creates racing cars for racing drivers.
Recent Red Bulls, by comparison, have been racing cars produced by engineers for engineers.
Pierre Waché, the Red Bull technical director, effectively admitted as much in an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com last season.
Red Bull, he said, had placed too much emphasis on raw downforce figures with 2024’s RB20 and only succeeded in introducing “some characteristics that are not designed for the driver” as a result.
The team has been attempting to reverse out of that situation, without great or long-lasting success, ever since.
Rest assured that Newey, had he remained at Red Bull and his influence remained as high as it once was, would not have fallen into the same trap. His way of working simply would not have allowed it.
This is what people really mean when they talk about what Red Bull has lost with Newey’s departure.
And what Aston Martin has now gained with his arrival.
Fernando Alonso spoke of his burgeoning bond with Newey at last month’s Dutch Grand Prix, explaining that the entire team is hanging on his every word in the countdown to 2026.
There, once again in Fernando’s words, was that familiar Newey strength.
He told PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher and other publications at Zandvoort: “I think all the questions and all the ideas that he raises, he explains why he thinks that it’s going to be a good solution for the team, for the car and for the drivers as well.
“In terms of how to approach the corner entry, maybe next year is very different than this year’s cars.
“Top speed is going to be different next year. Tyres are going to be different next year.
“So he tries to anticipate what the drivers will face in certain moments on the lap, in quali, versus the race and all this kind of thing. He’s very educative.”
More on Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin from PlanetF1.comThroughout Red Bull’s years of dominance it was often tempting to imagine Verstappen and Newey, that heartbeat of the team’s success, trading ideas in between simulator sessions in Milton Keynes.
Why don’t we try this? How about this? But hold on a second! What if we do that instead? Worth a go?
Close your eyes, picture the scene and you will find the F1 equivalent of John Lennon and Paul McCartney recording at Abbey Road, making magic live and uncut.
Now it’s Fernando’s turn to strike up the same understanding and synergy – knowing what the other is thinking just by catching his eye – with the man once the destroyer of his dreams, but now with Alonso’s destiny in his hands.
The most important discussions taking place in Formula 1 right now?
They’re happening deep inside the Aston Martin factory at Silverstone, where opportunity knocks.
Oh, to be a fly on the wall…
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