Newey's appointentment also a surprise for the master designer

GPblog has learned in Qatar ahead of this weekend's race that Stroll addressed the Silverstone-based team to confirm Newey's new role within the team and to rule out a move for former Red Bull boss Horner.

The Aston Martin owner’s statement followed reports that Horner was being considered to replace Andy Cowell as CEO and team principal. Horner was even said to have been given a tour of the Silverstone factory by Newey, who remains close friends with Horner. The tour itself taking place is denied by the team.

Horner cannot work for any team until he serves his gardening leave, as part of his severance from Red Bull, which expires in April next year.

GPblog understands that just a few hours before the announcement, Newey was unsure of being handed his new position in the team and paddock sources say the move came out of the blue and was rushed through.

According to our sources, former team principal Andy Cowell and Newey clashed and Stroll has now provided his backing to Newey, who signed for the team last year after a hugely successful spell at Red Bull.

Cowell, who spearheaded Mercedes' engine plans ahead of the introduction of the turbo hybrid era in 2013, will now focused on developing the team's power unit with suppliers Honda.

Curiously, Newey will not start his role as team principal until 2026. It leaves the team without a team principal for the two remaining races this season in Qatar and Abu Dhabi.

Cowell is no longer at the track and will focus on his new role, but the team has still designated him as team principal for those races. Mike Krack, who previously held the position, is expected to assume the role as acting team principal.

It illustrates how quickly this decision was made and that many issues were clearly still not thought through.

GPblog understands Newey will be in Qatar from Friday. The designer was always set to travel as part of his analysis of the race team. After visiting the paddock in Monaco and Silverstone, Qatar was the third and final planned visit.

There is also the question of how Newey will operate as a team principal. The renowned designer is notoriously shy and was given freedom to work at Red Bull by Horner. However, by now taking the team principal role, his workload has multiplied considerably while also putting him into the spotlight.

The team says Newey will make the role his own however, what that entails, no one knows yet. Newey will, similar to how McLaren's team principal, Andrea Stella works, focus more on the technical side and less on the media. Nontheless, he will now be burdened with team building, contract negotiations and budget requirements, which many feel will stifle his creativity when it comes to car design.

Newey will become the team's fourth team principal since Stroll took over the team in 2018. He has cycled through names including Otmar Szafnauer, Krack, and now Cowell, while there have been several other departures including Martin Whitmarsh and Dan Fallows.

This latest change is being presented as an important step to be ready for 2026, which will see F1 undergo it's biggest regulation change in the sport's history, yet the high turnover of staff raises concerns.

As part of Newey's new position, Stroll will take on even more responsibilities. the tycoon was already present at nearly every race and is internally considered a de facto team principal.

All in all, there is a feeling in the paddock that this knee-jerk decision was made out of panic. The ill-thought proposal has left the team with no team principal for the last two races of the 2025 season.

Quite why Aston hurried through the announcement is not clear but it does come following speculation that Horner was being linked with the role. There is a feeling that the reaction could be a consequence of an attempt to extinguish those rumours, although the situation remains rather baffling.

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