Adrian Newey’s ex-Red Bull protege Giles Wood has been appointed as the director of Aston Martin F1 simulation and modeling in a strategic move to bolster the team’s Formula 1 efforts.
This recruitment marks a pivotal step in the Silverstone-based team’s ongoing efforts to strengthen its technical capabilities and address one of the team’s most pressing weaknesses: the accuracy and reliability of its simulation tools.
Giles Wood, who previously worked closely with Newey at Red Bull during the team’s dominant era with Sebastian Vettel, brings a wealth of experience and expertise that Aston Martin hopes will accelerate its progress toward becoming a championship-winning team.
Wood’s return to Formula 1 comes after a notable hiatus during which he worked at Apple on autonomous technologies, a period that saw him step away from the high-octane world of motorsport.
His previous tenure at Red Bull was marked by a critical role in the team’s sustained success, particularly in the development and refinement of simulation and analysis tools that contributed to Vettel’s four consecutive world titles from 2010 to 2013.
At Red Bull, Wood was instrumental in leading the simulation and analysis department, working alongside Newey to push the boundaries of car performance through advanced vehicle modeling and simulation techniques.
Wood’s role at Aston Martin is officially that of director of vehicle simulation and modeling. His primary responsibility will be to fine-tune the F1 simulator to ensure it provides accurate and reliable data that closely matches real-world conditions.
The F1 simulator is a critical component in modern Formula 1 car development, allowing teams to test and refine designs virtually before physical prototypes hit the track.
A well-calibrated simulator can save valuable time and resources, enabling engineers to make informed decisions and optimize car performance more efficiently.
This task is crucial for the design and development of future Aston Martin cars, including the highly anticipated 2026 F1 model, which the team hopes will be a genuine contender for race wins and championships.
The team’s decision to bring Wood on board is closely linked to Adrian Newey’s influence and vision for the team.
Newey, who joined Aston Martin in early 2025, has openly acknowledged that Aston Martin F1 simulator correlation is a significant area requiring improvement.
During the Monaco Grand Prix, Newey candidly admitted that the driver-in-the-loop simulator was not correlating well with real-world data, describing it as a fundamental research tool that was currently a limitation for the team.
“I think it is fair to say that some of our tools are weak, particularly the driver in the loop simulator,” he said. “It needs a lot of work because it’s not correlating at all at the moment, which is a fundamental research tool.
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“Not having that is a limitation. But we’ve just got to work around it in the meantime and then sort out a plan to get it to where it needs to be. But that’s probably a two-year project in truth.”
Aston Martin also recently appointed Gioacchino “Jack” Vino as their new chief aerodynamicist, a seasoned engineer with experience at Toyota, Red Bull, before joining Mercedes in 2012.
Vino left the Silver Arrows in November last year, and is believed to have begun his role with Aston in April.
Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell said that both Vino and Wood had hit the ground running as Newey continues to work on pushing things forward.
“Giles left F1 for a period of time, worked in California, and is now back looking after our modelling and simulation world,” Cowell told The Race. “When you watch the interaction of those two guys with Adrian and the existing team, the energy and the determination is significantly higher.
“It’s amazing how key hires like Adrian, but also the other individuals, just helps everything. It helps lift everybody. I’m not so sure it’s the work rate, but it’s the target setting.”
