Aston Martin test and reserve driver Felipe Drugovich has revealed that legendary aerodynamicist Adrian Newey is ‘not sharing’ his work with the wider team as he prepares for the new Formula One technical regulations. The Brazilian racer only met the 66-year-old once during the 2025 season.
Newey was poached from Red Bull in September 2024, ending an 18-year partnership with the Milton Keynes squad that produced eight Drivers’ Championship titles and six Constructors’ Championship crowns. He started his work at the beginning of March, focusing on the first Aston Martin challenger of the new technical regulations, which start in 2026.
Drugovich, however, only had one interaction with the F1 design guru. “So literally all the contact that I had with him was in Silverstone, when he went to the track,” he told Express Sport ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.
“And I presented myself, I said, ‘Nice to meet you’, and that was all the contact I had. And I think it was everything I ever spoke to him. But I think that’s also a good thing, though, because he is really focused on what he’s doing. He’s not really talking to anyone in the team. No one knows what he’s doing.
“I mean, everyone knows what he’s doing, but he’s not actually, you know, sharing with anyone, which is good, you know, he’s actually very focused on that. And because of that, I also expect Aston [Martin] to do pretty well next year.”
While the 2026 season will see Newey’s first Aston Martin car hit the track, Drugovich will embark on his own new adventure. The 25-year-old has committed to his first full-time motorsport role since winning the Formula Two crown in 2022, signing for Andretti’s Formula E programme.
The Brazilian made his Formula E debut in Berlin, finishing 17th and seventh for Mahindra in a chaotic weekend while deputising for Nyck de Vries. Now, with a full-time seat underneath him, Drugovich can focus on building a long-term career in the series.
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“I think it changes a lot of mindsets, you know, going to a race like this,” he explained. ”If you go through a one-off race, you need to do everything that you can, just go out there and push like a crazy man and try to show some speed and as much as I can, even though you don’t know how to drive the car.”
Drugovich continued: “And I think now it’s a different thing. It’s something that I really need to take in a bit slower and actually learn through the process a little bit more. And actually just thinking a little bit more in the long term.
“I think that’s what’s really going to give me lots of performance in the future. And instead of just jumping straight in and doing everything in a rush, just trying to actually do as good as I can in such a short time, like I did in my earlier races in this series.”
