Adrian Newey had an 8-minute standing applause in the Aston Martin factory when his Red Bull switch became official, claims insider

F1TV analyst Ruth Buscombe revealed that the Aston Martin factory workers gave Adrian Newey an 8-minute standing ovation when the news of the legendary designer joining the team was confirmed. The former Red Bull Chief Technical Officer will be officially joining Aston Martin as the Managing Technical Partner, starting on Monday.

Ruth Buscombe, a former F1 engineer, who also appears as an analyst on F1TV's coverage of the sport, found herself doing a commentary stint during the pre-season test at Bahrain.

Midway through the afternoon session on Friday, Buscombe revealed how simply the news of Adrian Newey joining the team garnered a massive reaction from the engineers and other workers at Aston Martin's Silverstone factory.

When another member of the commentary team mentioned that Adrian Newey may not have an instant impact on the Aston Martin car, Buscombe disagreed. She shared how inspiring it can be to work with a legend like Newey and how that can galvanize the whole team.

"When he [Adrian Newey] was announced in the [Aston Martin] factory, he had an 8-minute standing ovation from all the engineers. That level of inspiration, and having a legendary desginer, does make you stay [at work] a little bit later on a Friday night," Buscombe said via F1TV live broadcast.

While sharing her experience of working with legendary designer Rory Byrne, Buscombe said it made her want to stay at work a little bit longer on a Friday night. She aslo made the comparison that it would be a similar feeling to work with Newey.

The F1TV commentary team also poked a little fun at the length of the standing ovation, mentioning that the reports are likely to be exaggerated.

"Eight minutes? Who is timing that, that's a guess isn't it?" said Alex Jacques.

"It's probably like a minute. I can't fact-check that." replied Buscombe, while laughing.

Adrian Newey is set to begin work with his new team, of which he is also a part-owner, on Monday, March 3, as a new era begins for Aston Martin F1.

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Andy Cowell shares the team's excitement to start working with Adrian Newey

(L-R) Fernando Alonso, Adrian Newey, Lawrence Stoll, Lance Stroll. - Aston Martin Event, Sep 2024 - Source: Getty

Aston Martin Team Principal Andy Cowell recently shared that he and his team are excited to start working with Adrian Newey and that his office is ready for his Monday arrival. Cowell replaced Mike Krack as the team boss at the beginning of the year.

During a press conference in Bahrain, Cowell told reporters that the team is looking forward to the 66-year-old's arrival and that they will start working on integrating him within the team, starting with introductions.

"Everyone is very excited to work with Adrian, his track record speaks for itself. So we are looking forward to welcoming him and integrating him as you would with a new employee. Even though it might be a little bit different with him," Cowell said via Motorsports Nextgen-Auto.

"We’ll start working on introducing him to the key technical players in our company, show him the tools to design the car and then we will get down to work on creating a car for 2026 and contributing to improvements for 2025. I am sure he will get the hang of it much quicker than I did, " he added.

Aston Martin will be hoping to improve a great deal as a result of some Adrian Newey 'magic', as the designer begins the latest chapter in his illustrious career. He will mostly focus on delivering a competitive car for the 2026 season amid the new regulations but will surely help push the team in the right direction with the development of the AMR25 car as well.