Jeremy Clarkson talks about breaking the Adrian Newey to Aston Martin transfer story 6 weeks before the official announcement

British TV personality and host of Top Gear Jeremy Clarkson reiterated that he was the first to reveal that Adrian Newey would be joining Aston Martin instead of Ferrari for the 2025 season. The aero wizard made a shocking decision to leave the Red Bull F1 team after 19 years at the 2024 Miami GP.

Post his announcement, there were many teams like Ferrari, Aston Martin, and McLaren vying for the signature of the 65-year-old, given his talents. While many had predicted that Newey would end up at Maranello and partner alongside Lewis Hamilton next year.

During the 2024 British GP weekend, Clarkson revealed to ViaPlay that he had it on good authority that Adrian Newey was house hunting in Oxfordshire, not Maranello. The detail was proved correct after the former Red Bull CTO was unveiled as the Managing Technical Partner at Aston Martin in early September.

In a clip floating on social media, the host of Top Gear and The Grand Tour gave further insight into how he got to know about Adrian Newey's plans and said:

"I broke that story about six weeks ago. Everyone said he was going to Ferrari and I just met him and he said, 'I'm looking for a house around you'. I thought if you're going to Ferrari why are you buying a house in Oxfordshire?"

"Aston, they'll win. He's very good and they seem to have a limitless supply of money and Aston's going to be a force to reckon with."

Aston Martin owner chimes in on signing Adrian Newey for £30 million

Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll stated that Adrian Newey was a "bargain" despite having signed him on a £30 million per year for five years.

During the official press conference of Newey's unveiling, the Canadian businessman said, via The Guardian:

“Adrian is a bargain. I never been more certain. He is a shareholder, a partner, the best partner to have in a company and we intend to be around for a very long time together, so it’s relatively inexpensive for everything Adrian brings to the partnership.”

Newey too claimed that he was looking forward to working under the leadership of Stroll, adding:

“It’s a different feeling when you have somebody like Lawrence involved like that, it’s back to the old-school model. And to have the chance to be a shareholder and a partner is something that has never really been, or hasn’t been offered to me before. It’s [an opportunity] I’m very much looking forward to. It became a very natural choice.”

The aero wizard would start working for the team in the first week of March 2025 after serving out of his gardening leave from Red Bull.