The 'rockstar' Aston Martin F1 engineering team that Adrian Newey will lead

Adrian Newey has confirmed that he will be joining Aston Martin as the F1 team’s managing technical partner: the final piece of the puzzle in an ‘all-star’ design line-up assembled by team owner Lawrence Stroll.

The most successful F1 designer in history will lead an engineering team alongside other figures who have been key in winning F1 titles over the past two decades. It’s the culmination of an aggressive recruitment drive by billionaire businessman Stroll, aimed at making the Silverstone team world champions — along with his son, Lance.

Newey represents Stroll’s biggest catch, with more F1 titles than any other designer in history.

Last month Mark Hughes drew comparison between the recent Aston engineering changes and that of Mercedes before it went on its incredible run of success from 2014 onwards.

As he pointed out, two of those Silver Arrows technical leaders, Andy Cowell and Bob Bell, have now joined Aston as Group CEO and executive director (technical) respectively.

But, along with Newey, they’re not the only latest men in green. Also heading up the state-of-the-art new Silverstone factory will be ex-Ferrari man Enrico Cardile, who will be Aston’s chief technical officer, former Red Bull aerodynamic chief Dan Fallows (now Aston technical director), engineering director Luca Furbatto (ex-Alfa Romeo), performance director Tom McCullogh and former Mercedes aero boss Eric Blandin as deputy technical director.

Between them they have a wealth of F1 world titles and race wins. But who are the great minds that make up the sergeants of the new Aston army? We run through all the key players below.

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Adrian Newey – Managing technical partner

In Adrian Newey, Aston Martin has secured the most successful – and to many the greatest – F1 car designer of all time.

The aerodynamics and aeronautics graduate first made his way into F1 with the Fittipaldi team in 1982, but it was with March who he joined shortly after that he first tasted success – his March 83G winning the 1984 Daytona 24 Hours.

He would continue his high standards as his March 85C car won both the 1985 Indianapolis 500 and 1985 IndyCar title, but with F1 aspirations he joined the Leyton House March team in 1988.

Newey announced himself in the world championship with his March CG901 almost winning the 1990 French GP in the hands of Ivan Capelli.

When Leyton House folded, Newey was snapped up by Williams, his designs snaring titles with Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve before a big money move to McLaren.

At Ron Dennis’s team Newey designs would win capture titles with Mika Häkkinen and race wins with David Coulthard, Kimi Räikkönen and Juan Pablo Montoya, but it was at Red Bull that he really spread his wings.

Lured by the promise of greater managerial freedom (and more money) by thrusting young team boss Christian Horner, Newey signed up for Dietrich Mateschitz’s quirky F1 team in 2006 with the hope of moulding the design department in his own image – which he did and then some.

Over almost 20 years, seven drivers’ championships, six constructors’ titles, 120 race wins, 278 podiums and 103 pole positions tell the story.

However, after the alleged revelations surrounding Christian Horner’s conduct with a colleague in early 2024, Newey decided to call an end to his time at Red Bull.

Now his incredible story is set to continue at pastures new with Aston Martin.

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Enrico Cardile – Chief Technical Officer

In July this year Aston Martin announced that Ferrari’s chassis and aerodynamics technical director Enrico Cardile would be joining in 2025 as chief technical officer.

“I am thrilled that we continue to attract world-class talent to our team,” said Lawrence Stroll.

“Enrico shares my motivation to be successful in F1 and will have all the resources available to him to realise that ambition. Together with Andy Cowell joining as Group CEO in October, and our existing leaders, we are creating a formidable team.”

After graduating with a degree in aerospace engineering in the early 2000s, Cardile had been with Ferrari since 2005, first working on its GT sports car projects.

He jumped to the F1 team in 2016, first as head of aero development, before becoming vehicle project manager and then heading up the aero department.

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Dan Fallows – Technical Director

Dan Fallows started his career at Jaguar in 2002 before moving to Dallara when Ford withdrew its support of the team and Red Bull took over.

Fallows returned to Milton Keynes in 2006. Having been a key part of its first run at title success from 2010, in 2014 he was appointed head of aerodynamics.

However, in early 2021 it was announced that Fallows would become technical director at Aston Martin.

He is credited with helping to galvanise the design team, particularly during the strong run of results which saw run Red Bull closest in the first part of 2023.

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Luca Furbatto – Engineering Director

Luca Furbatto has a wealth of F1 experience, first joining Tyrrell in 1998 to work on systems analysis before it became British American Racing in 1999.

He moved to Toyota in 2000 and then McLaren in 2001 as head of materials.

Moving through the roles of head of stress analysis, head of structural design and project leader, he was a key part of the team that designed the race-winning 2010 and 2011 cars driven by Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button.

At the end of 2011 he switched to Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso, before becoming chief designer at the backmarker Manor team in 2015.

Following its collapse he joined Sauber/Alfa Romeo for 2017 before being hired by Aston Martin in 2022.

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Tom McCullogh – Performance director

Tom McCullogh is a Team Silverstone stalwart. He began his top-tier single-seater design activities by working on Reynard’s IndyCars in the late ’90s.

Upon Reynard’s closure he became part of the Williams F1 team, staying there for ten years.

He joined Sauber for 2013 as head of track engineering, before switching to Force India (now Aston Martin) to oversee trackside engineering a year later.

McCullogh was a crucial part of the team which helped Force India regularly punch above its weight and other better-funded outfits.

In 2016 and 2017 the team took back-to-back fourth place finishes in the constructors’ championship, as well as taking a shock race win with Sergio Perez in Bahrain in 2020.

McCullogh now oversees the running of both Aston cars on race weekends.

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Eric Blandin – Deputy Technical Director

Like many now at Aston Martin, Blandin had a significant Milton Keynes/Red Bull involvement, being hired by Jaguar for his first F1 job in 2002.

Designing the aerodynamics which helped Red Bull win its first races – under Adrian Newey and alongside Dan Fallows – Blandin then became part of Ferrari in 2010.

After 14 months at Maranello he was hired by Mercedes, eventually becoming chief aerodynamicist in 2017 as the team enjoyed unprecedented title success with Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

In 2022 he moved over to the growing Aston Martin project.

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Bob Bell – Executive Director, Technical

Bob Bell has had a long and successful career in F1. He first joined McLaren in 1982. Working under John Barnard, he was lead aerodynamicist in the design team which brought it its first title success as part of the Ron Dennis regime.

After progressing to more senior roles at McLaren, Bell then jumped to Benetton for 1997, followed by Jordan in 1999 before finding himself back at Enstone in 2001.

Bell became Benetton technical director in 2003, heading up the design team during its championship years as Renault in 2005 and 2006.

In the wake of the crashgate controversy and Renault’s subsequent withdrawal, Bell joined Mercedes in 2011, and then Manor in 2015. He returned to Renault as chief technical officer in 2016.

He took an extended break from F1 in 2018 before becoming Aston Martin’s executive director (technical) in March 2024.