Will Lawrence Stroll join Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey in creating an Aston Martin dynasty with the latest rumours about Formula 1’s “Silly Season”?

A few months ago, Max Verstappen’s father Jos made a bold claim/prediction that his son’s Red Bull team was on the verge of breaking up. At the time, we thought he was saying this to fuel the Christian Horner controversy and his own very public falling out with him. But now, at the turning point of the F1 summer break, we’re starting to see that Red Bull as a team and its dominant streak are in danger. This year, there have been seven different race winners in just 14 races – in contrast to Max’s dominant streak in 2023. Adding to this misery is the fact that two key figures Adrian Newey and Johnathan Wheatly have both called it a day in Milton Keynes and are on their ‘last lap’ with the championship-winning team. Jos clearly knew more than we did! Given the decline of RB and the recent moves of Aston Martin combined with their ambitious rise, the latest rumor doing the rounds is the dumbest move of the future Silly Season.

Max Verstappen’s latest admirer Lawrence Stroll has reportedly signed Adrian Newey for $100 million

In an episode of Netflix’s Drive to Survive, Lawrence Stroll said he wants to build the best F1 team in the world. To achieve this goal, team owner Lawrence Stroll has been campaigning and recruiting people anywhere and everywhere. The first piece of this dream puzzle is Adrian Newey. The team has reportedly signed Newey for $100 million. In addition, the Canadian billionaire is now interested in poaching Max Verstappen to replace 43-year-old Fernando Alonso. It is believed that Alonso’s retirement is likely to begin when his current contract ends. Clues over the past few months have also strengthened these rumors.

Photo credit: Imago
Lawrence Stroll (left) and Adrian Newey (right)

Speaking of Newey’s move to Aston Martin: Sky F1 Podcast Ted Kravitz said: “Adrian Newey, I said it then and I’ll say it again if you work at the Red Bull factory: two words you don’t want to hear: Adrian is leaving. Can you imagine the impact of those words? What is that? Adrian is leaving? Oh no. So the impact if Newey leaves and potentially moves to Aston Martin, the latest hot rumour that he has signed his services is due to be announced at the end of the summer break – we’ll see if that turns out to be true or not. I think it’s more about the environment, Newey… of course financial compensation is important in terms of the value of a team and when you win the World Cup you pass that value back on to the team.”

He added: “I think it’s more important for the people he works with, the environment he works in and where he works. If you look at the investment that’s already been made at Aston Martin, if you look at their factory, he already has Dan Fallows, who he worked successfully with at Red Bull Racing. I imagine he’s definitely spoken to Dan Fallows. He would have explained to Dan Fallows what this place is that I’m coming to. What’s it like there? And I asked Dan Fallows about it in Hungary. In fact, I said, ‘Would you be happy to bring him back?’ And Fallows said, ‘Look, you have to understand that Adrian is a relentless, unstoppable Formula 1 competitor and I would be amazed if he didn’t move to another team. And we would certainly welcome working with Adrian again at Aston Martin.'” Given this information and the latest rumors, Max’s move (second piece of the puzzle) to AM seems almost inevitable.

“Could Aston Martin also be a target for Max Verstappen?”: Former mechanic comments on the rumors

In a recent interview, Max Verstappen spoke of “loyalty” to Red Bull when asked about his Formula 1 future. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t considering F1 in 2026 before the big rule changes. According to Italian publication AutoSprint, after convincing design legend Newey to join Aston Martin in a $100 million deal, team owner Lawrence Stroll has now set his sights on Verstappen. The publication stated that negotiations are already underway and that the three-time champion is set to join the team in 2026. Stroll’s desire to bring Verstappen on board is so great that he will even send his son Lance to Aston Martin’s World Endurance Championship program to make way for the Dutchman.

Former McLaren mechanic Marc Priestley believes the reason is because Aston Martin was able to offer Verstappen the opportunity to work in a thriving environment, not only with state-of-the-art facilities but also with team members like Newey. “Could Aston Martin also be a target for Max Verstappen?” he asked on his YouTube channel. He added: “This sounds very strange and unlikely now, and yet it was a rumour – Max Verstappen moving to Aston Martin alongside Adrian Newey. That could be a dream team in its own right? When you think about it, yes, a driver pairing of Verstappen and Fernando Alonso, if he’s still there at that point, that’s a wonderful partnership. They’re building a great team of engineers behind the scenes and if they get Adrian Newey and the people he wants around him, the design team looks pretty good too. They’ve got a wonderful facility with the very best and latest when it comes to things like wind tunnels.”

If Max Verstappen follows in the big footsteps of Fernando Alonso and Adrian Newey actually ends up at Aston Martin, it will certainly be a dream team.