Lawrence Stroll says Adrian Newey is my partner and an important shareholder

Aston Martin denied such reports on Thursday but then Audi announced the departure of Wheatley on Friday with Aston Martin releasing the statement almost immediately after that.

Stoll said: "With the current speculation surrounding Adrian Newey's role in our team, I want to take this opportunity to set the record straight.

"As Executive Chairman and Controlling Shareholder, I would like to reaffirm that Adrian Newey is my partner and an important shareholder. He is AMR's Managing Technical Partner, and he and I have a true partnership built on a shared vision of success for the company," he explained.

The Canadian billionaire then added: "We do things differently here, and while we don't currently adopt the traditional Team Principal role that you see elsewhere – it is by design.

"As the most successful engineer in the history of the sport, Adrian's primary focus is on the strategic and technical leadership where he excels. He is supported by a highly skilled Senior Leadership Team to deliver on all aspects of the business, both at the Campus and trackside.

"We are regularly approached by senior executives of other teams who wish to join Aston Martin Aramco, but in keeping with our policy, we do not comment on rumour and speculation," Stroll concluded.

Aston Martin, under Newey's watch as Team Principal, have had a disastrous start to their 2026 Formula 1 season with their works partner Honda dropping the ball massively with their new power unit as neither Aston Martin car was able to finish in any of the first two races of the season with massive vibrations affecting reliability and more importantly driver health.