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Adrian Newey has played down speculation linking Christian Horner with Aston Martin, saying he knows nothing about a possible move and insisting the team is happy with its current leadership.
Asked about the rumors at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Newey told media including RacingNews365: “I keep hearing these rumours about Christian; I can’t comment further, I don't really know anything about that.” He then made Aston Martin’s position clear, adding: “All I can say is that we’re very happy with our senior management team.”
Newey said any changes at Aston Martin would be limited rather than part of a major reshuffle. He said the team “may do some minor tweaks” and that the organization of its senior members “will probably do a little bit more tweaking,” but stressed that “we’re very happy with the personnel” already in place.
The Horner links have persisted since his exit from Red Bull in July 2025, with Aston Martin, Alpine and discussions connected to BYD’s potential 12th-team project all mentioned as possible routes back into Formula 1. Reports have also indicated Horner would only be interested in returning in a role above the team principal and CEO position he previously held, potentially as a shareholder or co-owner rather than as an employee.
Newey, though, shifted the focus away from any reunion talk and onto Aston Martin’s current rebuild. He said the team made a deliberate decision after the opening race in Melbourne to slow car development and instead concentrate on “integrating, getting people together, developing the culture, developing tools, taking a bit of pressure off ourselves, taking a deep breath and looking at how we needed to develop.”
He said that process is “progressing very well,” framing Aston Martin’s recovery as an organizational project as much as a technical one.
That rebuild is now feeding into the team’s update plan. Newey said the car introduced in Hungary, followed by further upgrades for Zandvoort and Baku, represents “very strong steps” in Aston Martin’s development push.
He also made clear that the changes are not being sold as an instant competitive breakthrough. “We’re clearly playing a big catch-up game,” Newey said. “Is it going to make us the quickest car? Unfortunately, not. But does it represent a good step forward from where we were? Yes, I believe it does.”