Aston Martin makes offer to poach Newey from F1 rival Red Bull

Newey has been the subject of plenty of interest from rival teams since joining Red Bull in 2005, being integral to its championship-winning success with Sebastian Vettel between 2010 and 2013 and now with Max Verstappen.

Motorsport.com understands Aston Martin chief Lawrence Stroll has up the ante with a big-money contract offer over the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix weekend to lure the 65-year-old legendary designer from Milton Keynes to its nearby Silverstone headquarters.

The ambitious Stroll has been putting the building blocks in place to create a team that can rival Red Bull, Mercedes and Ferrari for years to come.

In addition to erecting a state-of-the-art headquarters, with a new wind tunnel on the way, Stroll has already attracted several key designers from rival teams as well as signed a works Honda deal for the 2026 regulations era.

Poaching Newey could be seen as the last missing piece of the puzzle to close the gap to F1’s traditional top teams and entice lead driver Fernando Alonso to stay put beyond his expiring contract.

It could also be an additional argument to convince world champion Verstappen, who is also the subject of interest from Mercedes, to continue his successful relationship with Newey and Honda just 20 miles down the road.

Verstappen currently holds the key to the 2025 driver market, with Mercedes chief Toto Wolff admitting at last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix that the Dutchman is his number one target to replace Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton, should he decide to leave Red Bull before his 2028 deal is up.

Previous attempts by rivals to lure Newey away from Red Bull have not been successful.

But amid the inner turmoil at Milton Keynes, and the ongoing power play between team boss Christian Horner and the Austrian side of the business, some of the variables that have kept Newey tied to Red Bull may yet change.

Stroll has now offered Newey a lucrative, alternative challenge to bookend his illustrious career, which would put him near the highest-paid drivers on the grid.

It is not clear if Stroll could be successful this time, with Newey having signed a multi-year contract extension last year and saying he was not planning on walking away from Red Bull.

Aston Martin declined to comment when approached by Motorsport.com.