What Verstappen thinks of Newey becoming Aston Martin F1 boss

Max Verstappen has backed Adrian Newey to succeed as the new team principal of Aston Martin.

Legendary F1 designer Newey will become Aston Martin’s team principal next season as part of a major restructure at the Silverstone-based outfit.

The move has taken many in the F1 paddock by surprise and divided opinion, but Verstappen expects Newey to succeed in the role.

"It's probably something that you see in more teams, right? That someone more technical is taking on the role of team boss,” said Verstappen, whose Red Bull title-winning F1 cars were all designed by Newey.

"And I guess Aston is going the same way. I mean you have to ask them, of course, why they opted to do it. But that's my, I think, logical explanation behind that.

"So yeah, I'm happy to see that. I don't know of course how much that will change in the involvement of the car for Adrian. But I'm sure he will do well.”

Asked if he was surprised by the move, Verstappen replied: "I've never spoken to Adrian about it. It was never an option at Red Bull of course as well so I don't know what the ambition was or whatever - but I'm happy for him.

“He's in a different team environment now and, of course, I cannot look into the team why or how or the reason why he got promoted. But I'm just sitting here and enjoying it.

"Happy for him and I hope that the team will benefit of his knowledge at the end of the day.”

Unexpected Newey role raises eyebrows at Red Bull

Verstappen has been the subject of speculation linking him with a switch to Aston Martin in the future, though the Dutchman remains committed to Red Bull until at least the end of 2026.

While Verstappen thinks Newey will flourish as a team principal, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko reacted with shock at the news.

“That really surprised me,” the 82-year-old Austrian is quoted as saying by Kleine Zeitung.

“We'll have to see how that plays out in practice.”

Marko added: “That’s certainly not his strength. His great strength lies in design, car tuning, and the quality of production and development.

“But it has surprised me greatly that he will now be moving more towards team management.”