From principal engineer to Team Principal of Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team: Andy Cowell, a journey in the sport: “This is the best job I’ve ever had”.
Andy Cowell, renowned for his leadership at Mercedes-AMG High-Performance Powertrains, has taken a new direction with Aston Martin F1. He is now the CEO and Team Principal of the team. He shares his thoughts and perspective on how he plans to elevate the British team.
The aim to win
Andy Cowell obtained his new Aston Martin F1 CEO role in July 2024. Several months passed, and the passion was thrilling when he was asked how he felt about this new chapter in his life. Cowell felt welcome since day one by the whole team, from investors to the pit crew.
The team’s direction is hungry to win and reformulate this historic brand. The objective is to turn the team into a World Championship-winning team.
2024 was unbelievably disappointing for the team. They scored just 94 points. A P5 finish saw them end up 578 points away from McLaren. Updates failed.
Cowell says he got to know Lawrence Stroll — executive Chairman and shareholder of the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team — and is aware of the hunger and passion the Canadian businessman has to win.
“Lawrence is determined for Aston Martin to be successful in Formula One, but we’re not just talking about winning races and the championship, we’re talking about winning many championships.
“Building a World Championship-winning team is our North Star. Everything we discuss relates to what is needed to make this vision a reality.”
The vision and responsibility behind Aston Martin’s project to become an elite team
Building a championship-winning team at Aston Martin requires unwavering vision, strategic leadership, and a unified effort toward a common goal. They discussed this, and try to make the vision a reality.
“My job is to work out what organisation is the right one to achieve this vision.”
Cowell’s aim is to set the right path to lead them to where they expect to set foot in the following years. That is the main reason for the priorities of what he considers the right order of factors.
He explained that his boss is convinced he will lead Aston Martin to make them frontrunners.
“Lawrence has put a huge amount of trust in me to lead this team to the front of the grid. It’s very humbling and it’s a great privilege.”
The importance of being unique in Formula One
If it’s not a challenge, would it even be worth fighting for? Andy Cowell has a really strong mind as he ensures the point of the project is the challenge of the path.
“If you do the same as what’s gone before or the same as what others are doing, you’ll never reach new heights, you’ll never win.”
Achieving the truest success requires the creation of a concept that will bring an opportunity to improve performance. If that idea feels overwhelming, seems nearly impossible to accomplish, and makes everyone in the organisation stop and question how it can be done, then you’re heading in the right direction.
“To be truly successful, to win, you have to come up with a concept, with an approach that represents a huge performance opportunity.
“And if that concept is daunting, if it seems impossible to achieve and makes everyone in the organisation sit up and wonder how we are going to actually do it, then you’re on the right path.”
The changes as there leading motivation
There were many decisions regarding the evolution of the Aerodynamics, Engineering and Performance Departments. The changes are the leading motivation for the team to clarify and improve the car and its performance.
This restructuring also means new roles in the team. For them, this will allow the focus and efficiency for obtaining the maximum performance out of the car at every Grand Prix and for the creation of a new one. Mike Krack leads the way as CTO. Adrian Newey and Enrico Cardile will be key for 2026 and beyond on helping design cars.
Like a jigsaw puzzle
For the Brit, the key to building an efficient organisation came out of playing for the team’s strength as a puzzle. In the end, everyone needs to know their place and to work together.
As he stated, “I like to use the analogy of a 1,000-piece jigsaw puzzle. Each persons in the team is a piece of that puzzle, but they need to know exactly what their responsibilities are and what everyone else’s responsibilities are.
“Having this organisational clarity ensures that the pieces of the puzzle fit together well with no overlaps or gaps. Any overlaps or gaps are just inefficient.
“An efficient racing car is lots of downforce, minimal drag; an efficient organisation is great communication, no waste.
“People tend to become dissatisfied if they’re doing exactly the same thing as someone else because it means that one of them is wasting their time. Equally, if you do a piece of work and then it just sits there waiting for the next person to pick it up, that’s also frustrating. Organisational clarity drives out this kind of inefficiency.”
The Team Principal of Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team transmits his passion and approach to transform the team into a championship force. His vision mixed up with Stroll’s brings focus and innovation to the British brand.
The challenge is great. Cowell believes, however, true success is only achieved through bold ideas and relentless determination.
