Due to Red Bull “blocking” Adrian Newey’s “tools” through gardening leave, plus the nature of the F1 2026 regulations, the F1 design guru says he will be behind the curve at Aston Martin.

Adrian Newey more than two months behind at Aston Martin

While appearing on the Autocar podcast, it was put to Newey that while he has been on a period of soft gardening leave since May after announcing his Red Bull exit, with the RB17 hypercar his final focus, Red Bull cannot stop him thinking of innovations that will benefit his future employer Aston Martin.