"IT'S SEISMIC!" 😳 | Why Adrian Newey chose Aston Martin | Sky Sports F1 Podcast

hello and welcome to this week's episode of The Skys Sports F1 podcast with me Matt Baker we are here at the new Aston Martin technology campus we're here for one man it's not Craig Slater it's not Ted Kravitz it is Adrien Nei who is today announced uh or was today been announced as the managing technical partner at Aston Martin he would also become a shareholder as well um Craig and Ted have been covering the story for for us at Sky Sports F1 so I think we're just going to go straight in with a reaction first I mean it crazy taking a big while you take a swig of water busy day it's been a busy day Ted come on give me your reaction to to the news Well it changes everything it changes everything in Formula 1 it changes everything for Aston Martin it changes everything for the future of you know drivers who go everywhere uh and where and when you consider that you know we are sat here on the land previously owned by Eddie Jordan at the Silverstone Factory and Eddie Jordan by the way who was here today in attendance as honorific you know pre-owner of this team that's based here and Adrien nei's manager which isn't a joke we believe he is his actual manager and has done wonders for Adrien neui actually in his negotiations both with Red Bull and Aston Martin which we'll get on for you know it's seismic I'm sorry I don't want to overstate it all right I do but you know it is it is seismic and and the you know a it's not as simple as saying Eddie Jo Adrian y has joined the the team that that that used to be Jordan This is not this is the team that used to be Jordan but wow what a team what a facility what investment what prospects it has and with Adrian new on board they are going to be Championship challengers in two years time maximum three years time and that's seismic for Formula One yeah it certainly is nuclear fusion I came to my house you've got Andy Cowell here and Adrien neui the two kind of The Car Guy together in this the two most significant engineers in Formula 1 certainly have the last knew he's case for 30 odd years maybe more C was the only engineer who supplanted him for that time in terms of influence in Mercedes period of dominance but yeah we're all sitting here looking out to see if if Lauren stroll takes off in his helicopter Ted that's how he arrived here today um but he has he has speculated to accumulate and I mean the money aspect to all of this why did Aston Martin get Nei ahead of of the others who might have done the one thing I'd say today a lot of a lot of people influential people at some of the teams tipped to get Adrien yui said oh we don't want to be drawn into a into a into a bidding war for his Services I sense today a lot of maybe regretting the fact that they didn't Splash more cash and and and try and force the issue a little bit more toing because I agree with you because it feels like this team the inevitable result is them winning at some point sooner rather than later I just tell I certainly agree with you that I just don't think the other teams were as creative as Lawrence Stoll was who amongst the other teams would have offered Adrien skin in a game yeah shareholding a longterm shareholding I would imagine Ferrari would have never imag never given him a shareholding in Ferrari I mean all right maybe Williams would have done but would Adrian really want to go bit of uphill struggle going to Williams McLaren wouldn't have offered in M sh holding maybe they should have done Mercedes I'm not sure they were ever going to think Toto wolf inos mercedesbenz they don't want to lessen their shareholdings for Adrien Nei Lawrence stroll has that flexibility and he had the imagination to make him a m a partner a technical partner a partner at the top level of the team so the only person Adrian y reports to is Lawrence stroll and effectively I don't think he will he will report to himself really and he's a share holder so he's got skin to get and I don't think I think they could have offered him 30 40 whatever million but I think Lawrence was creative in what he offered him and we've seen the shareholding thing offered to key other people in sports haven't we yes yeah David Beckham at least gets the option to buy an MLs franchise Killian mbappe Paris San gerain gets a stake in the team probably keeps him there for two or three years longer than he would have done otherwise well you say yeah I think I think Messi will have some kind of equivalency within the MLS structure to maybe do what Beckham has but you say other teams couldn't have done that if you read Adrian yui's book you know that's something he has wanted throughout his career so if you're serious about getting him find a way to do it I don't think Lawrence stroll has sold away a massive chunk of this team to Adrian newu he has he I mean that you you could come up with a bit of smoking mirrors here to give him enable him to say he's a shareholder without diluting significantly the key stakes in the team but yes you're absolutely right he he has he has done what he needed to do to get him in and he'll be the one laughing at the end of the day and the others I think I think they will live to regret not taking this opportunity you say they they would never had the chance to do so I suspect one or two of them might have done they might have done but what I what takes me back to actually what neie said in the press conference was that this you know we think it must have been a hard decision to pass up Ferrari you want a chance to work with a great Mark like that and with leis Hamilton you know wouldn't you have wanted to go with Williams go back to where it all started or McLaren or and actually Adrian said you know what it became quite an easy decision in the end yeah it became quite an easy decision for reasons that we'll get on to not least the shareholding and the partnership when he was offered that but also because the influence and the autonomy of Lawrence stroll and also because of the facilities and he could see that he could have more of an influence here than he could maybe a Ferrari or or a Mercedes I think it's clear as well this is a unique opportunity this this is different to what he's done at Red Bull because of the fact he's a shareholder Now isn't it it feels like an evolution something he literally a new challenge um I do Wonder though Craig just just on the finances of it what do you understand to be the the figures in question here because he this this now makes him doesn't it one of the highest paid sports people in the UK the figure I'm most confident about and I you know I think there's a lot of figures in the public domain or figures the people are putting out there the figure I'm most confident about is is a basic salary of of 25 million Us doll per year so just under in today's exchanges under 20 million pounds uh the bonuses could lift that by by another third well another half so you're looking at at 30 million the agreement is for five years but of course there's an open-ended aspect because he's also a shareholder as well now so it could be the foreseeable but that that those are the terms which are more competitive terms than anyone else was offering still probably cheap at the price I think the original bidding I think Eddie Jordan like you say uh was was an aggressive uh representative for ad Nei I think the bidding here started run about $50 billion US a year so Lawrence was able to to knock that down by 50% that's that's what I've been told um but yeah what is it Martin brundle always calls Adrien yui uh disgracefully underpaid that's that's that's that's a bargain Lawrence stroll said he was a bargain today he said for answering your question when he said he's a bargain if you can move from where Aston Martin are at the moment in fifth in the constructors fifth to Fourth is what 15 million fourth to third is another 10 and then to first if they go from fifth to first let's say over the space of a couple of years there's your 50 million straight off the other interested think full he's going to work fulltime here which I don't think he had been doing at Red Bull well he's been in other involved in other projects including the valkyrie one but he's going to well he he seemed to Signal he was going to be put in a a good hard shift and it is F1 Focus any road car project is down the line from from one I can G this priority one is is to get the F1 team winning yes he said where he said that you would have to be he said I'll be here with an office you have to be if you are to do it uh the job properly and um although he did scoff at uh uh our colleague Andrew Benson's question from the BBC who was saying um who was saying I think you know at Red Bull it was your choice to go three days a week um and Adrian said well I never heard I never knew where three days a week was doing so maybe he was doing longer than we thought at Red Bull Racing I don't know but he said yeah you'd have to be there and he said that I will be here just directing the people underneath me my technical team so you know he'll we be he said he will have a drawing board first of all so they'll have an office maybe like this overlooking the lovely uh the lovely this I mean who knows this could be the future office of Adrian Yi who's to say overlooking the canteen could be let's put the microphone in the corner um and uh long battery yeah uh March is starting um and um next march uh and he'll be doing some drawing on his drawing board but he'll be directing all the people underneath him and he's got Dan fellows who he worked with successfully at Rebel racing um and is it Eric blond yes uh r so lots of people from lots of different teams coming here do they does Dan stay do you think yes I don't see this as a comment on Dan fellow's work I think it's a way of making everything come together because Lawrence said we lost our way was that the word he said yes when he was talking about this year's performance yeah gone down the wrong direction we got went down the wrong direction I had it written down here somewhere we had a great 2023 obviously where Fernando alono was seemingly scoring podiums for fun and could have won a couple of races um we've gone down the wrong direction and we are we need this person to put us right yeah so down fellow and all these people can come up with great ideas they just need somebody to direct them in the right direction which you know conductor of the orchestra just I mean it must be a little I felt a bit for Dan Fellers uh a bit today because I suppose in one sense This was meant to be him spreading his wings away from a Nei um well there has been a bit of speculation about whether he would continue because he has been technical director here so presumably had the ultimate say on the car which you you'll no longer have I mean it'd be great they'll want to keep them won't they and actually the one thing Dan always said about Dan F's always said about Adrian yui was that that Adrian yui listens um doesn't just dictate design if ideas are good he takes them on board and um so so the two obviously did work together in the past and maybe there can be that accommodation here again yeah I my your empathy but I don't I don't think down fellows needs to be felt sorry for I spoke to him I spoke to him in Hungary about this particular before we ever knew this was actually happening and I said would you you know what how would you feel about working with Adrien again and he was like great bring it on all right maybe he's saying that publicly but you know it would be ABS it would be fantastic he's the most he said he is most uh competitive fiercely competitive I think was the phrase down fellows used just to fill you in down fellows was adri ne's kind of second in command at Red Bull Racing made a break from that there was a tug of war for his Services people don't know um ended up leaving Red Bull in a kind of um was kind of Hostage exchange deal in a kind of uh you know crossing the lines in East Berlin uh and actually managed to managed to come here and and maybe hasn't enjoyed the success uccess he has but now he's rejoined with him I think this creates and cements fow's position here rather than threatens it and I think it would be positive that's what fellow said to me in Hungary so he's got no problem with him coming he's happy to interesting I I think in in seeing as we we're doing this um bit of context I it'd be good just to discuss Adrian and what Adrian is going to bring to Aston Martin and I use the word guarantee is Adrian Nei do you think the the the best guarantee of success in Formula 1 that you can have you you can have all the money but ultimately if you've got Adrien Nei that is going to pretty much as sure as you can be bring I know there something we we do want to talk about I always thought it was Christian Horner's greatest achievement was to keep him at the team and keep him happy and that he recognized what a what a a kind of golden egg Adrian knew he was in terms of being able to create the success that Red Bull have had he's the goose that lays the goose that lays he ex or he the golden egg himself he's yes exactly that but that I think one of the reasons he's left is because he felt underappreciated I think in in in the last years and because Red Bull perhaps convinced themselves that it was the technical department um as as a wider entity which was responsible for this success rather than the extra element that knew he brought and I I think is and you asked the question didn't you about what's gone wrong with your car yes today the Red Bull and and we learned had confirmed properly for the first time that he's had no input on that car at all since April since the Japanese Grand Prix yeah and he told Red Bull he was leaving yeah so I mean that that's another illustrator I think of actually how even in a short space of time his input or lack of it is felt to answer your question question uh on the car side yes Adrian is the best guarantee of success that you can have the only problem is in 2026 it's going to be mostly about the power unit because that's what's changing the most the removal of half the energy recovery system generation of electricity in the terms of the MGH which runs off the turbo so most of that uh electricity to be used on acceleration is going to have to be garnered from the mguk which is mean that you're going to have to slow down the car even sometimes on the straights just to generate electricity so a lot of it is in the engine which has been ne's bug bear in the past in the Renault days that he didn't have an engine capable of his chassis designs he's very keen to underline Honda's influence this will be a Works Honda team in 2026 it's not a customer of anybody so that would be important and Adrien was Keen to underline how highly he rates Honda loves working with loves working with Honda they after a slow start in Formula 1 they're back into I mean recent times they're back you know on on top of it with with what they're doing in red with Red Bull at the moment um so that's to answer that question but on the Red Bull thing two reasons or two things on that why he left it he felt that he was getting a bit stale been there maybe a bit too long I'll take what you'll say about being underappreciated I think part of that was that Christian hor was trying to do what he felt he needed to do was to keep some of the other people at the team by bigging them up had the negative effect to actually um maybe alienating the one man he needed to keep sweet but always maybe thought already he had kept sweet but hadn't and has now lost and the other question is um of course what has and the deal that Adrien and Eddie Jordan cut to allow him to start so soon here at Aston Martin March the 3 next year that is still one of the big unanswered questions what did Red Bull get in in in recompense for that I see what was the upside for Red Bull for Red Bull allowing Adrien to start and have a positive influence so soon on team uh at Aston Martin and the other question is which we'll get on to can I ask now go on go on I've WR real seeing as we're talking about Red Bull uh see as we're talking about red racing and Christian Herer I imagine that and God bless Sky Sports F1 that we actually broadcast today's uh press conference great service so well done Sky yeah well done watching that watching that live stream of the uh I imagine as I was Sting there sitting there thinking that Sky one are broadcasting this where's Christian Horner at this moment is he sat on his sofa in his office with an empty office do you remember in Red Bull Adrian knew he used to have the office next to Christians with a kind of ghost ad an unused you know drawing board Christian sort of sat on his sofa watching skyf one on the TV of Adrian joining Aston Martin and but thinking with the deception of Williams is this the best possible outcome for Christian her and Red Bull Racing would it have been more worrying for Red Bull and Christian if Adrien had gone do you know what Ferrari yeah with Lewis a team that's already winning Mercedes I'm going on Mercedes or or McLaren God you know forid you make a team that's already faster I asked him that very question yeah the said did you breathe a sigh of relief when it was apparent he was coming here you asked Christian I asked Christian did you breathe the S of relief that it was Aston Martin not one of your direct Rivals at the moment yeah and he he he gave a fairly vague answer but not knowing where Chris uh um where Adrian was going to go and about it being up to him and he'd support him whatever he chose to do I like you I'm suspicious of the idea that ne's years of decorating the the Red Bull trophy cabinets somehow earned him the Liberty to break his contract early to to to answer that point that you think there was Goodwill there I don't know skep I don't know what I think there must have been more to it than that but I I don't I don't it's hard to say what isn't it but that would surely be an element there must have been some Goodwill if he's saying he wants to leave um not to to to hold him to the full extent his contract I would imagine but yes that is an unanswered question but yeah I I think I think you're right the the the there are still a lot of building blocks to things have to coales here but they've got a lot of they're not he not taking over this is very much more fully realized product than Red Bull was when he arrived there isn't it is it is this not actually a more of a clean slate because because everything is built now isn't it by the time adri moves in this facility is hugely impressive as we've seen today and and you just take one look around this it looks ready to win Formula 1 championships you would say so is is this not actually Adrian being able to put his own stamp on a kind of on a blueprint of a Formula 1 team as opposed to going to Ferrari where we've already got these things in place we've already got our way of doing things it's going to be a lot harder for him to get put his stamp on it I don't know I guess so I mean I think is the question you're asking why not Ferrari why not McLaren why not Mercedes why not Williams who were the other ones kind of in Aline made a late kind of Al push for should we go through them all why not why not those other people well the f one is worth I think the FR I mean I okay let's deal with let's deal with the teams he's already been at yeah I think Williams would have been it's too it's just too much too much he knows what the Williams factory is he knows how much it needs to change I mean that's a 10-year plan isn't it it's a it's it's a facil it's not a new facility that has everything here it's a facility in transition why not Mercedes um do you think teaming up with a sort of James Allison super team and not the promise of a shareholding would have made it difficult yeah maybe they didn't show him enough enough respect contractually maybe the offer wasn't wasn't big enough and again it's it's it's it's not adding it's adding to a period of success I mean the point you made when we were discussing this earlier about the they're being more to achieve here is probably relevant certainly to Mercedes isn't in the recent past so maybe same for McLaren he's already he's been there before doesn't really want to go back he made a very interesting comment about factories uh in the beginning of the press conference did Adrian yui which I took to be McLaren he said factories are really important it's nice to come and have somewhere that feels good and that can make people communicate to each other and has nice wood you you know he didn't mention the wood but this is what I I took from it that has a nice feeling to the factory that allows creativity to flow because we are in a creative business and some factories I've worked in don't have that and there was a s Mar Whit was Martin Whit Marsh was there he can only mean the McLaren Technology Center that when you go into it I mean it is like going onto a you know rocket ship command is like going into mission control but you do sometimes feel I felt sometimes your individuality being sucked out of you when you go into the McLaren technology something to his credit something Zack Brown has tried to yeah uh improve since he took over uh as CEO but yeah this is it um uh it's important for for a factory to build a warm creative space that's what Nei said that's what we're here to do you have to be creative I've seen some buildings that don't do that and I put in Brackets MTC so that he I said it he didn't be and this is a nice place to be um and so I think with this feels like a mini Red Bull to me this feels like kind of the next Red Bull project for him he's got a factory that he knows he can do business with and so the last question is why not Ferrari and is it that he would felt would have felt that he had less influence or less to achieve there than actually taking Aston Martin who are at the moment fifth in the constructors rather than second or third or even maybe first at the end of the who knows into the beginning is he could have more influence here than he could have at for does he also cement the greatest ever if he turns ason Martin into I think if he' Won Won for Ferrari that would have been more of a greatest yes I agree with that the one all I would say you know keep coming back to this but and I did try in in these last weeks try and check in with all of these teams bidding for New Year the only one that showed genuine and and consistent urgency to pursue him was this one I have to say the rest were yes we'd like him but we're not prepared to pick the Earth it was always a butt um and and this team were always going to pull out all the stops to get him did they really people say we're not prepared to get into a bidding war yes incredible yeah yes I agree a little yeah yeah um the other the other point on Ferrari that we we have to say is the is the leis Hamilton question and there was I seem to remember a pen interview Ted didn't wasn't leis very complimentary to Adrian in a of course pen interview sort of almost cting him quite public for the Ferrari project of next year this goes back to what I was saying about this being seismic for Formula 1 when Adrien joined Red Bull it was a magnet for all the best people to go there and it's going to be the same for Aston Martin yeah it's inevitable it's the history shows this is what happens and that goes for drivers too Max V stappen Max V stappen Lewis Hamilton anything is possible you know Fernando is gonna come back after two years anything is possible so Fernando alono is 43 now he'll be 40 obviously maths he'll be 44 uh when Adrien starts to have his first influence on the 20125 car and he'll be 45 years old when he drives the first purely Adrian yui car going for the championship now I asked you about this directly uh and I and Adrian said it's it's it's the mental will you're still quick enough you're still quick enough at the age you're still quick enough that's no problem it's the mental fatigue that goes and you don't and you don't want to do it anymore and if Fernando can buck that and wants to keep going then there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to so Fernando going for a championship third Championship 45 years old but yeah there's nothing to say that Fernando won't get that missing 33rd win that he's still going for in 20125 towards the end with a newly influenced car and that would be fantastic so the opportunity of working for Fernando what did he call him Arch he called me Arch he did he called knew he call he said Fernando it's great opportunity to be in uh he's been my he's been somewhat of an arch enemy over the years and came close to coming to Red Bull uh for 2009 uh didn't happen he used to say Orono didn't he were not just fighting vetto we're fighting NE well and now he's got him on his side but I remember that I remember that when um uh it was Paul Monahan actually who was at Red Bull who used to be Fernando's uh race engineer at Renault he was one of the key people who convinced tried to convince Fernando to come to to Red Bull at the time it was 2008 2009 long before you were before your before your time but uh but uh yeah he was quite close yeah um and in the end it didn't happen so that's one of the drivers what about Lance stroll what does Lance stroll sit there thinking when he sees what's happening in front he thinks this is my opportunity to win more you know win races and challenge for the championship so Lance I spoke to him did you you you yeah I spoke to him just uh just about half an hour ago and I said to him look you've never had a car capable of winning he almost won in turkey that day didn't he when he was on pole but his tires went off um almost almost almost have pole positions have podiums all of that and Lance was like yeah you know I need to recompute or I will recompute in my own head that you know when everything is right for him in the car Lance is as quick as anybody it's just that he needs to get all those things to be right by his own admission sometimes when things don't go quite right then he doesn't have sometimes the the adaptability that maybe others this is Lance says this himself I'm not um interpreting anything for him so once Lance has a car that he can do as quick as anyone and then this means race wins and championships and that's very exciting for him what about I mean I asked you this question in the press conference I said this is a silly question and you said it's all good 20 he joins in was it the 5ifth of March he joins I believe second or third is it second second is a Sunday right it should be third then um Adrian said the 2nd of March did yeah 2025 and I thought oh that's a Sunday so maybe the contract hasn't been signed is it the so the thir Monday Monday is the 3r of March is it a race weekend and then uh Pancake Day is the cheese day next week so imagine yeah the canteen below us they'll be it is cheese pancake day isn't it it's not Ash Wednesday I just can't remember um sorry go on joins in the third of March yeah so so my my my question to you was is that not a bit late in in the day because given obviously you can you can't start work on the 26 regs until the is it 1st or 2nd of Jan in 2025 so te tell me why him arriving two months already into a 12 month schedule on car development is is okay and it's it's not going to be a problem well neie explained this himself in the press conference he said when I arrive um I will see what they've been doing because the uh like having work marks wouldn't it after s of month of because the the uh the technical regulations if they're ever agreed on for 2026 will be published on the 1st or 2nd of January 2025 and then everybody will be like okay we've had an idea what it's going to be Voom now we're at it so they've got two months they've got January and February here at Aston Martin they'll go down a uh the route that they think is the best together with Honda they'll be working on one of the best ways because we're going to have these movable rear wings and front Wings you know it's going to be like these FL that's that's that's the that's that's the offset to the the power units being significant is that the aerodynamics are also going to be half have to be all the more significant to compensate for the lack of power so actually I mean that that play plays plays to his strengths but what were we joking that you'll allow them to get on with designing the seat belts leave the rest to me I'll be think thinking about it but he said he said I'll come in I uh I I I will come in and get to know everybody get to know what they do and then start having my influence I've got a I have a drawing board I'll be working with my fellow Engineers I'll be going to ra going to races and trying to understand what the drivers are saying fit turning their comments into an engineering program he's a kind of he also he he he's an adjuster of of others work isn't he is talking about Mar homework but he's the he's like a strikes me a little bit one of those super producers like a Mark Ronson or or a Calvin har n Rogers Trevor Horn from the 1980s we get n Rogers and Trevor Horn yeah yeah one of those the hit makers stock he's not stock Aken and Waterman nothing against them and the collaborations with Kylie and all that but he he can I think he can make a car an Adrian UI car without physically touching the controls with with his his his explaining to people to do things a different way but it it's there is a lag time there will be I always love the think about him is he sets great store by thinking time doesn't he so and that's what he will have I guess without necessarily putting the ideas into into actual manufactured parts for the first couple of months you'll be able to to think about the the rules and the wi exploitability if that's a word that was a thing he did at Red Bull wasn't it he was driven into work and back every day he they did not drive himself in order to give himself more thinking time to think about the various problems he would sit in the back of the car and and and just have time to to to mull over things so that extra you you have more of that to bring to maybe come with a more fully realized product some teams they they will go too quickly won't they for 2026 I guess they they'll immediately have to to think we need to get ahead on on this whereas sometimes those with a a more fully realized concept and base as I think Red Bull were able to do get the head start even if they haven't got a a more realized finished product maybe Aston Martin in this current route they they started very well didn't they and have fallen away relative to others so it's not such a disaster he's he's starting a couple of months late I always had an idea that he turned up to Red Bull in his Aston Martin so he has he has a couple of uh vintage Aston Martins one which is a beautiful navy blue DB5 that if you've ever been the British Grand Prix you might have seen him driving in and out so he's a fan of the Aston Martin brand do you know what car designed the sorry do you know what car's getting for for next year the new Red Bull hyper car what the R 17 so can you imagine him coming up to the Aston Martin Factory in his Red Bull right he did the Aston Martin Valkyrie which is which is the the the track day car that they've already so he's a fan of the brand yeah and he said so the only mention he did a Ferrari in that press conference was to say second to Ferrari I rate Aston Martin as the world's most premier brand it's a very alluring brand that I'm delighted to be part of uh a it but going back to your creative thing something Adrian didn't say in the press conference today but I've heard him say before is that as a creative person you and he always worried about where the next idea is going to come from and that's what he felt that he was just running out of those ideas at Red Bull we get on to that maybe now next uh and this gives him the extra creative spark the new he felt he was getting a bit stale at Rebel racing and moving here gives him the new creative spark whether he has to whether it's that from staring out of Windows at the scenery going by um or you know holiday on y the pressure of of justifying his his wage maybe you know the fact that he's got to he has he still got it I suppose at the age of 65 and and you know maybe people will will question whether he can still do it who are those people I don't well they they well his current team for example were talking well Mighty retire the we've heard it with Fernando haven't we yeah that's why Fernando was was quite upset wasn't he when he when he moved to um when he moved away from Alpine he said wasn't offered a long long enough term deal people who were the people in charge weren weren't his name was his age rather was mentioned quite a lot around the time when it was announced his departure as though is he have we had his best years kind of thing no I think anybody was saying that Adrian knew he going straight into retirement fatally underestimated the man and the competitiveness within him uh and and they didn't understand that he was a competitive hugely competitive man as Adrian said the press conference uh Frank Williams used to say to me you're the most competitive man in Formula 1 and I never knew what he meant he said think well I think we know what he meant but that does lead us on Matthew to what on Earth has happened to his Red Bull rb20 was it right that nobody asked him in the proper open press conference I think that would have been a step too far I did ask him in our sitdown yeah and his answer was brief uh and I have it was I have no idea because I haven't been there since April working on the car the two I'd like to think about that a bit more does he really does he really not no has it changed that much because Red Bull have gone back to the the Japan spec car essentially and I love that that his last weekend the weekend Nei decided to lead Red Bull was when they just dominated the Japanese Grand Prix with a one two for vapen and Perez and he thought do you know what then I spoke to him on the notebook didn't I after uh After Japan uh he was I was walking back off the grid where they were doing the photo and just said to him hats off you seem to have bettered last year already dominant F1 car seems a stupid thing to say now when they're looking vulnerable in both championships and he was talking about how it's a group effort but does he really not know how what's happened to the rb20 since he left would he and would he be able to fix it now if he was still down the road at Milton Kings I wanted to know well I know he does speak to Christian horor but that was a question I wanted to ask today can you still give a word of advice here and they apparently not no zero so well because we think it's at Red Bull's in in um insistence they froze him out of all technical matters he said all right if you're going to freeze me out of all technical matters then I can't help you with the car that my car that doesn't seem to be working now quite extraordinary isn't it when you when you put it like that would he be able to I mean maybe he wouldn't maybe he wouldn't be able to fix but would the car have ever got to this point where it wasn't working with Adrien still in charge these are unknowable these are un hypotheticals aren't they but it you you can't argue people at home will be sat there going well Adrian left and the car stopped working as well as it has almost to the week almost to the week yeah although Max did win in Spain but yeah but but you know give or take it doesn't take a genius to work out it the official line was what the problems were there and it it had it had these characteristics on certain circuits in particular which were masked by its overall superiority to because the others haven't caught up yet is the official line but would Adrien have been able to look at it any differently to the rest of them I don't go back with the negotiation could that floor didn't work with that body work let's go back to that I find it difficult I think that I can't believe he would have left and the rest of them who are not stupid at Red Bull they would know so I think he'd be scratching his head as much as they are um as to what's happened to his rb20 but his instant response was I don't know not my which is which yes he didn't volunteer no we knew we were coming to the end he development curve and it was always likely to happen it was yeah any more to add on that because there's another topic that I want to get into is there Lawrence stroll oh I feel like we I feel like we we we've touched on it but I do think now we need to just discuss I mean you you said actually Frank Williams called him the most competitive person in the pit Lane Lawrence in the press release said Adrian is a racer and one of the most competitive people I have ever met there was a interesting anecdote about how they first got to maybe not got to know each other but when they first started talking about the possibility of Adrian coming over to ason Martin that this plan was hatched in in the gym we we learned didn't we that that you know we we were we we see each other in the gym yes Adrian Lawrence is on the treadmill yes Adrian's on the S on the bike I mean I thought that was that was quite interesting bike is always better than the treadmill for KN um yeah but to be fair to Lauren stroll he he he's incredibly serious about this this plan in Formula 1 and and and if anything you know if building this was not enough we can now firmly say with the signing of Adrian he is as serious as it gets he was seen the interest new he kept on saying today Lawrence stroll is the one of the main reasons I've signed whereas in the first few weeks when he was available and on the the market well connected people well connected to Adrian yui were telling me Lawrence strong is the reason they won't sign for Aston Martin because he's too much of a of a Hands-On micromanager would interfere in in in in in in the factory too much knew he wouldn't want some someone like him looking over his shoulder but I think we have to accept they they have formed a relationship and I think to be fair Lauren stro wouldn't get to where he is in business if he didn't know how to deal with creatives like Nei um different type of person to to him I think Nei described it be yes he is a bit bombastic but but they obviously he knows how to press new's buttons and I I think they if that was going to be an issue they've managed to work that through but the way that NE is a man a managing he's a partner and well yes he reports to Lawrence it's at the same I mean Lawrence is the majority shareholder but Adrian is a shareholder I don't think that will be a problem first of all and secondly I go back to was it on drive to survive or somewhere else where there's a quote from Lawrence Stoll he says uh it was in this on the Lawrence stroll Drive Survivor episode uh he said I'm Lawrence stroll and I'm going to build the best formula one team in the world was that on there or was it on the N I remember the five year do you remember the fiveyear plan I'm going to build yeah and I'm going to build the most success the championship winning team in Formula 1 and everyone was like yeah well you know he would say that yeah this is where that starts and he's delivering on that that in the signing of Adrien Nei He is building potentially the most successful or the next championship winning team in Formula One final point if unless you have anything else to no I mean I I did think that was interesting that that Adrien likes having a a team owner who's the team boss like a Frank Williams like a Frank Williams Ron Dennis yeah um talked about mates didn't he dietr mat he talks about not having mates there was an issue red he felt more well he as though he had enjoyed he enjoyed having contact with the owner a sort of Patron you know a team big um you know whereas Christian horn has always been just an organizer of people and of men and women and trying to get everything to work dealing with helmet Marco and Adrien yui and the factory and everything and Christians constantly spinning plates he's not a team owner even in the way Toto wolf is a third team owner who are the other big team owners there Lawrence stroll now Ferrari's you know owned by a big company Toto is in order but he's quite not really so that's what attracted that that that you have somebody who you'll be able to go to and with an issue or something and Adrian said this is important doesn't have to go to a board or anything like that go to Lawrence and say we need this and it will happen and that was another draw for him for yeah okay so so final Point as we sit here Aston Martin Adrian technology campus office you know the floor still smelling very new everything's smelling very new what what do you make of this facility you you've been to I imagine every Factory between you certainly in Formula 1 so to tell me where this sits now in the pantheon of of Formula 1 factories I'm not not an expert jge of wind tunnels but it's the one thing of the of the new projects um I think Volkswagen group and and and and sober that that's a small it's a small unit um hard to expand which looks a bit tired and and I you can't see the investment there that you can hear you mean sber and henville yes yes has to split over two sites sort of assembly site in B down the road um Mercedes has kind of been built up but is a is a good you know Championship winning facility Ferrari's huge huge MH but is essentially built up from the you know has its history to fall back on same as Williams MH McLaren is being changed Adrian seem to allude that it maybe wasn't the most fun place to work um Alpine is being rebuilt and improved on uh cost cap wise the size of this place is rather than having to act stuff and lose stuff that the likes of Mercedes and McLaren have had to do they were a kind of nice size to to grow into the cost cap OK I suppose yeah Red Bull was always it seemed to be a nice place to work Adrien stayed there for long enough and as Heaven Knows has produced great cars so it must be must have something good going for it but Red Bull still use the old um industrial 1950s postwar uh wind tunnel um don't they the the old British Aerospace wind tunnel until they get their new one going and that's been sort of hinted at as part of the cause for some of their issues that sometimes you know the wind tunnel doesn't provide consistently brilliant results although can do on its day because obviously they've not suffered have they red from having bad cars recently um so the answer is I think sorry do you want to going say the most people as much as resource now with the cost cap is and the most inquisitive team teams in terms of recent signings or I think name signings McLaren you know with with the likes of Rob Rob Marshall and and he P Dr but they were they were in for D Sanchez if they let him go but they've signed people from other teams and and this place you know you've got a half a dozen well-known names yeah Ferrari's turned out to be pretty pretty good Ferrari have recruited a few yes Red Bull conspicuously haven't really neither have Mercedes you'd have to say of of the names you know that are going but I would say this is you know this is right up there with Red Bull and Mercedes obviously Ferrari is a very different place but it's throughout history Ferrari has had you know new bits built and they've done over a different very different concept but certainly between all right Ferrari would a bit of a different thing but Red Bull and Mercedes and this place are on I would say the same level yeah which is what Nei saw in the facilities himself and maybe better that time will tell time will tell to the greatest days of ancient Athens in terms of the the philosophy that came out was before they built the parnon well actually are you usually apply that to the McLaren Technology Center I think they built this incredible edifice but the the great days of of building cars there were in the years before by and large it seems to me so I don't think it's all about bricks and mortar yes but it is I think it needed it here because this was a small team it was a on a small site with maybe a glass ceiling to its Ambitions and and now you walk in here and you know every day that the the the end goal is is is to be number one and nothing else will do that's that's now they know that and as I'll leave on the words of Fernando Alonso who must have used the word incredible opportunity three times in fact he did I wrote it down it's incredible opportunity great opportunity to work with a with a with a person of this quality and uh yeah maybe the final word to to Lawrence stroll to Lawrence stroll nothing good comes cheap yes I'm glad pick up on that that was quite nothing good yeah was it who asking was he a bargain you asked it was me so was Adrian is a bargain I've never I've been in business for 40 years he's investor and a partner and uh flattered by you know what we've got and nothing good comes cheap the old phrase isn't it you you buy I say it all the time you buy cheap you buy twice yeah yeah say that more there isn't a cheap Adrian y so anyway uh all right just time to tell you about the timings of aaban before we go um it's an earli race start this week but let's talk about Friday uh fp1 we're on air from 10:00 fp2 1:45 for a session start of 2:00 Saturday fp3 is at 9:15 qualifying we're on air from 12:15 before a session start at 1:00 and then Sunday this is where it all gets a bit interesting we build up from 10:30 before a lights out at midday what you're going to ask in the pen are you going to are you going to raise the Adrian question in the pen well I've already spoken to Lance stroll about it but um talked to Fernando Alonso yeah about whether he feels whether he can hang on can you hang on for your first new car you'll be 45 years old yeah and uh can you hang on to uh to be potentially a world champion in that car in 2026 they are going this place is going for a world championship in 2026 yeah and they've got the man to do it now yeah can they do it will it be Alonzo third world championship the age of 4 and a Aston Martin Honda I'm just it's ad more Greek mythology no Adrian UI licensed to throw but there'll be those who are sorry that he isn't helping the7 times world champion Le Hamilton win a name I I really like that Craig I think that's that's true if we were to end on anything it's that uh thank you Craig thank you Ted uh we'll be back well actually we've got an episode with valre BOS if you're watching this on Tuesday evening tonight tomorrow there is an episode with valry botas to be released and then we'll be back after the aan Grand Prix to look back at that as well so thank you very much for joining us bye for now