Aston Martin: Andy Cowell named team leader as Mike Crack demoted to chief trackside officer in organizational structure | F1 news

Aston Martin has appointed Andy Quayle as Group Principal after demoting Mike Craik from a corporate restructuring role.

Former Mercedes engineering guru Guru Cowell joined the team as Group CEO in October last year but has now become Group Principal.

Crack, who has been Aston Martin’s group principal since 2022, will become chief trackside officer as part of changes that will split their aerodynamics, engineering and performance departments into separate trackside and campus-focused operations.

In the year Aston Martin, which will move to a new Silverstone campus in 2023, says the changes are designed “for leadership clarity and as part of the transition to a flat structure” and “to achieve its mission to be a championship-winning outfit”.

“I’ve spent the last three months understanding and evaluating our performance, and I’ve been incredibly impressed with the dedication, commitment and dedication of this team,” said Cowell, whose engines have helped Mercedes to eight constructors’ championships. Titles from 2014 to 2021.

“With the completion of the AMR Technology Campus and transition to a fully operational team by 2026, we are on track to become a championship-winning team alongside our strategic partners Honda and Aramco.

“These organizational changes are a natural evolution of our multi-year plans and I am incredibly excited about the future.”

The announcement also confirmed that Enrico Cardil will take over the position of technical officer, signed in July last year, the Italian was allowed to take over after leaving Ferrari after completing his gardening leave.

Aston Martin’s announcement made no mention of the legendary designer Adrian Newey, who left Red Bull in March to manage the team as a technical partner.

The team’s statement: “The AMR Technology Campus-based team will be led by the team’s new Chief Technical Officer, Enrico Cardil, and will now be able to focus 100% of the time on the competitive challenge of creating a new race. Car Enrico oversees the architecture, design and construction of new race cars.

The changes came from Aston Martin in 2010. After a 2023 campaign followed by a reshuffle in 2024. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll’s combined points dropped from 280 to 94 as they finished both campaigns fifth in the construction standings.

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