Cowell Boosts Aston Martin’s F1 Prospects

Fernando Alonso praises Andy Cowell’s arrival at Aston Martin, highlighting the team’s appeal despite recent struggles.

Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin F1’s acquisition of former Mercedes F1 engine chief Andy Cowell shows the team remains “attractive” despite its recent downturn.

Aston Martin announced earlier this week, ahead of the British Grand Prix, that Cowell would replace CEO Martin Whitmarsh in October.

Cowell was managing director of Mercedes AMG HPP until 2020 and played a crucial role in the brand’s F1 dominance following the engine rule reset in 2014.

The imminent arrival of the Briton comes amid a period of declining competitiveness for Aston Martin, which has gone from podium finishes last season to struggling to score points.

Aston Martin is also reported to have lured Ferrari’s technical director Enrico Cardile and is still courting design guru Adrian Newey.

“It’s huge. It shows once again that the project is attractive to these big names, these great engineers, and designers who want to join the Aston Martin family,” says Fernando Alonso.

“I don’t know him personally and haven’t spent time with him, so I have to be honest. I really look forward to spending some time with him to get to know him better.”

“Lawrence has a lot of confidence in him, as well as in Martin (Whitmarsh). Martin was and is a key part of this team. He was the man behind the new campus and the spirit of everything Aston Martin is today.”

“So, first of all, I think we need to make sure we deliver good results before Martin leaves, but I think Andy will be a good successor to Martin.”

Alonso adds that this proves the team remains an attractive destination as it strives to become a title contender.

“It’s exciting, I mean Aston Martin remains a very exciting project. We are aware our weekend results are not good enough.”

“We need to improve, we need to first position ourselves to be in the top 10 in every race and be in the points, then fight for podiums and wins like we did last year.”

“We are not yet in that position, so it’s a bit harder to demonstrate how motivated and enthusiastic everyone in the team is. We are still very attractive to talents as we see with Andy and some of the names linked to the team.”

“New facilities, you may have seen them this morning, but every time I come here for simulator work, everything gets bigger and bigger. Buildings 2 and 3 are almost complete, and the wind tunnel is coming at the end of the year. It’s very interesting for many people in the paddock and many great engineers.”

Cowell’s expertise in powertrain development will help the Silverstone-based team transition from Mercedes to Honda units starting from the 2026 season.

“I would say yes, but it’s an outside opinion; maybe you know him better than I do. But yes, with his experience and background, it’s a crucial moment for the team with Honda, having our own gearbox, our own fuel with Aramco, which we don’t share with other teams or other Honda-powered teams, so yes, there are certainly some big challenges ahead for our team. And these kinds of people and great engineers and designers will definitely help us.”

His teammate, Lance Stroll, adds: “It’s huge, it’s great news. He’s hungry for success, he’s coming back to F1 and wants to make a difference. He wants to help the team and bring us back to the top.”

The Canadian was also asked about the rest of the season.

“We have ideas, improvements coming in Hungary. So, we’ve been working a few days after Austria and Barcelona, we’re going to change things to see what we can do. But realistically, it will be a tough weekend, I don’t know… maybe we can aim for a few points.”

“Here, the goal is to try and score one or two points; that would be a good weekend for us. That’s where we are, and we have to do what we can.”