There are some fun news coming for those who are Formula 1 fans. The Aston Martin Formula 1 team is making another addition to its line, this time in the form of Andy Cowell, formerly from the Mercedes-Benz AMG High Performance Powertrains team.
His predecessor, Mike Krack, the team principal of Aston Martin Formula One Team since 2022, will now serve as the Team’s chief trackside officer, which is still an important position within the team and will undoubtedly help bring his expertise in order to secure even more podiums. The change was announced on Jan. 10 2025, without much explanation.
Andy Cowell’s Formula 1 path
A Mechanical Engineering graduate, Cowell specialized in the design and development of Formula 1 engines at the British automotive engineering company Cosworth. There, he was responsible for the engineering project group for the top end of the innovative CK engine, which powered Stewart Grand Prix (a Formula 1 constructor and racing team founded by triple Formula 1 champion Jackie Stewart and his son Paul Stewart in 1996) to a win in 1999. After his success he worked for BMW Motorsport in 2000, leading the engineering group that designed the 2001 BMW-Williams engine.
He then returned to Cosworth for a few years, bore making the jump to Mercedes-Ilmor in 2004 as Principal Engineer for the FQ V10 engine project. His many successes during his 16 year tenure at Mercedes Benz led him to become in 2013 the Managing Director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains, where he oversaw development of the innovative PU106A V6 Hybrid Power Unit, considered to be the best powertrain in the first year of the turbo-hybrid era.
Under his watch, Mercedes won both the F1 Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, when he left the company.
This impressive career is what has led Aston Martin to pull him out of his leisure and offer him the Team Principal role, hopefully complementing previous hire Red Bull Racing star aerodynamicist Adrian Newey and securing even more wins in the future.
Cowell seems optimistic about the new season. After a good 2023 season, when the Team had eight podium finishes and a climb to fifth place in the Constructors’ standings, the 2024 season was less than stellar, with no podiums and a lot less points scored in the overall classification. But this will all hopefully change in the coming season and especially in 2026.
Newey has been tasked with starting the design of the 2026, which will feature innovative modifications in the power unit developed specifically for this purpose in collaboration with Honda, a change from the previous designs that were made by Mercedes. If this change is not exciting enough, Aston Martin has also decided to split their Aerodynamics, Engineering, and Performance Departments between dedicated trackside teams and teams based at Aston Martin’s F1 headquarters. This will give the AMR Technology Campus Team more time and leeway to focus on the design and building of new race cars in the hopes that the technological advances that they can come up with will improve their stating in future Formula 1 seasons.
In a statement when asked about the new season, Cowell gushed about the changes, stating that “With the completion of the AMR Technology Campus and our transition in 2026 to a full works team, alongside our strategic partners Honda and Aramco, we are on a journey to becoming a championship-winning team.”
Whether or not his optimism is warranted, only time will tell, but with the 2025 Formula 1 Season starting on March, there will be a good chance that the world will get a wonderful preview of what is to come.
