Adrian Newey, being considered one of the best engineers in Formula One history, is a claim backed by impressive stats. From 1991 to 2024, Newey’s designs have won 14 Drivers Championships and 12 Constructors Championships. After being involved in the engineering side for so long, he is taking on a new role for 2026 as Aston Martin Team Principal.

Right after graduating from the University of Southampton with an Aeronautical Engineering degree in 1980, Newey began his career in motorsport. He first started working for the Fittipaldi Formula One team, before joining the March team in 1981, and later worked as a race engineer in European Formula 2, and eventually he started designing cars.

In 1984, Newey moved to the March team’s IndyCar project, where he worked as a designer and race engineer for Bobby Rahal, a three-time CART champion. Newey’s March 85C design in 1985 would go on to win the championship that year as well as the 1985 Indianapolis 500. In 1986, Newey moved to Kracom while his March 86C design won both the championship and the Indianapolis 500 once again.

From 1986 to 1987, Newey temporarily joined the Haas Lola Formula One team, which withdrew at the end of the 1986 season, and at Newman-Haas as Mario Andretti’s race engineer, before being rehired by March as their Formula One team’s chief designer. 

His first Formula One design, the 1988 March 881, was much more competitive than expected, eventually aiding in Newey's getting a promotion. When Leyton House Racing was established in 1990, Newey was given the position of technical director. That didn't last long, though, as the team's results were getting worse, leading to Newey getting fired in the summer of 1990.

Newey quickly found himself at a new team in Williams from 1991 to 1996. Newey and Williams ' technical director, Patrick Head, were a solid partnership and a good competitor for the dominant McLaren. The Williams FW14, used in the 1991 and 1992 seasons, won 17 Grand Prix, earned 21 pole positions, and amassed 289 points, as well as winning Nigel Mansell the 1992 championship and Williams winning the constructors ' championship. 1993 saw similar results with Williams winning their second consecutive constructors' championship and Alain Prost winning the drivers' championship. 

1994 saw an uncommon dip in performance for a Newey-designed car, but on top of poor performance, there was a tragedy that hit the team. At the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, Ayrton Senna, who had joined Williams that season, crashed into an unprotected concrete wall, resulting in his death. Williams was still able to claim a third constructors' championship in a row, but with possible manslaughter charges looming from the Senna accident, Newey’s relationship with Williams was cracking. Newey was later acquitted of all charges relating to Senna’s death in 2005 after the case was reopened.

The 1995 season furthered the rift between Newey and Williams after they lost both the drivers' and constructors' championships. Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve secured both Williams titles in 1996, but Newey had been put on leave before leaving to work at McLaren.

Newey joined McLaren in 1997 and was put to work improving the 1998 car. The title came for the team and Newey in 1998 and 1999, before Mika Hakkinen barely missed out on a third driver's championship in 2000. In 2001, Newey signed a contract with the Jaguar F1 team, but was convinced to stay with McLaren; there were many rumors that he wanted to leave. He stayed with the team until 2005, before moving to Redbull for 2006.

Joining the team in February 2006, Newey couldn’t do much to the 2006 car, the RB2. The first Redbull design of his, the 2007 RB3, was fast but unreliable. The 2008 and 2009 cars were steps up, but weren’t quite enough to win championships.

In 2010, Newey won his first constructors' championship with Redbull, the car taking 15 out of 19 pole positions. Newey then became the first designer to win the Constructors Championships with three different teams. 2011, 2012, and 2013 saw continued success with Sebastian Vettel dominating and winning both the drivers' and constructors' championships for four years in a row.

From 2014 to 2020, Team Red Bull fell off a bit, though it still took second place in 2014, 2016, and 2020. 2021 saw Redbull’s return to contention with Max Verstappen. Red Bull won the drivers' and constructors' championships for three years straight, with the 2023 season and the RB19 considered among the most dominant cars in F1 history. The RB19 won 21/22 races that season. The 2024 RB20 went on to win the driver's championship with Verstappen but only placed third in the constructors' championship. In 2024, Newey stepped away from his F1 duties and focused on the team's first hypercar.

After a long career at Red Bull, it was announced in 2024 that Newey would be leaving the team and moving to Aston Martin for the 2025 season. Upon his move to Aston Martin, Newey began to work on the car for 2026 as Managing Technical Partner and Managing Partner.

In November 2025, it was announced that Newey would take over as Aston Martin Team Principal, while Andy Cowell, the previous Team Principal, would become Chief Strategy Officer.