Christian Horner ‘chaos’ comments see new light after Adrian Newey Aston Martin promotion

Adrian Newey’s former team principal at Red Bull, Christian Horner, once claimed that Newey “managing a bunch of people” would be “chaos”, and that even the design legend would accept that.

But five years on from that comment, Newey will be doing just that as he steps into the team principal role at Aston Martin, replacing Andy Cowell next season.

Adrian Newey will be managing a whole bunch of people next year

Aston Martin announced this week that the team will operate under a new leadership structure next year as design guru Newey has been named team principal, while current incumbent Cowell will move into the new role of chief strategy officer.

It means Newey will combine the team boss job with the managing technical partner role he has held since joining the team in March after his gardening leave following his Red Bull exit.

Aston Martin said in its announcement that Newey and Cowell had “agreed to divide their responsibilities in order to focus on their individual strengths and expertise, ensuring organisational efficiency”.

More on Aston Martin’s team principal announcement

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But is the job of team principal suited to Newey’s “individual strengths and expertise”?

His former Red Bull team boss Horner warned that it may not be back in 2021.

Speaking on the High Performance podcast, the Briton explained that with each individual within the Red Bull organisation, the team had to “build an environment around them that enables them to focus on what they’re good at.

“It’s like Adrian,” he continued.

“Adrian is an artist. There’s no point Adrian managing a bunch of people because it’d be chaos. He would be the first to accept that.

“But you want to give him the freedom, the freedom as an artist to be creative.

“I think that’s why he’s been here [with Red Bull] probably twice as long as any other team. In this sport, it’s having that feeling of empowerment and allowing them to do their job without micromanagement.

“Everybody is accountable, everybody’s answerable at some point of time, but it’s a question of you’re here to be an aerodynamicist of whatever function it is. You know what’s expected.

“I’m not an engineer. I don’t have any engineering degrees. I couldn’t tell you how the cars are built, even less so how an engine is built.

“It’s a people business, as most businesses are.

“It’s about getting a group of people together, empowering them, giving them the right direction, removing the obstacles to allow them to do their jobs and focus on their job without being troubled by worrying about what somebody else is doing or what another department is doing.”

Intriguingly, Horner has been linked to Newey’s team principal job at Aston Martin with speculation that the design guru is a stop-gap until Horner completes his gardening leave from Red Bull.

As part of his Red Bull exit, it is understood Horner negotiated an early release in exchange for a payout of around $100 million that would allow him to return to the paddock after the first half of F1 2026.

The Briton has been linked to Aston Martin almost from the get-go after his Red Bull exit.

Read next: Is Adrian Newey a Christian Horner stop-gap at Aston Martin?