ASTON MARTIN ISSUE ADRIAN NEWEY STATEMENT AS PRESS CONFERENCE SCHEDULED BEFORE BAKU GP

Aston Martin are expected to announce the arrival of Adrian Newey at a press conference next week.

The Formula 1 team has invited media outlets to the conference at the team's Silverstone factory scheduled for September 10, two days before Azerbaijan Grand Prix media day. No subject for the event was specified, but Newey is this week expected to sign a contract with Aston Martin.

Not that the team is willing to give anything away about the subject of the news conference just yet. A spokesperson insisted: "We don't have anything to announce", while Newey's manager Eddie Jordan also declined to comment.

But it has become clear that Aston Martin is the choice the 65-year-old has made. And he has not been short of other options, with Lewis Hamilton desperate for Newey to join him at Ferrari, while his former teams McLaren and Williams also made enquiries.

But the one who has been the most determined to land the celebrated designer is Aston's billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll. The Canadian businessman wants to turn the team into serial F1 title challengers and has certainly put his money where his mouth is.

Hundreds of millions have been spent on completely rebuilding the team's Silverstone headquarters, with the first building fully operational and the next two to be completed in the coming months. New design facilities and a wind tunnel are included, with cutting-edge technologies said to have been part of the reason why Newey is attracted to the project.

The 65-year-old is not the only new arrival as part of an aggressive recruitment drive. Former Mercedes engine boss Andy Cowell officially starts as group CEO next month and ex-Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile begins the newly-created role of chief technical officer in the New Year.

Since Newey became available, Stroll has been keen to add him to the list of recruits. He is set to earn around £20million per year and will be expected to have the same sort of impact he had when he joined Red Bull as a fledgling F1 outfit in 2006, going on to design all seven of their title-winning cars to date.

Speaking to Bloomberg this week, as he promoted the new Aston Martin Vanquish sports car, Stroll said he "certainly hopes" Newey will join the team. He added: "Adrian and I have been talking not only for months but actually for years.

"Adrian is clearly the most talented and gifted individual in Formula 1, based on his track record and history. So I'd be very excited for Adrian to join our team, as I think every other Formula 1 team on the grid would feel exactly the same."

2024-09-04T07:25:25Z dg43tfdfdgfd