According to last rumors and speculation we have the following situation.
Adring Newey is se to join Aston Martin for a contract of 100m €.
In 2026 Verstappen will may join the team.
Remember that in 2026 we will have a new revolution of cars so it will be a "fresh" start for everyone, once again.
Yeah Newey being offered 100m GBP by Aston is already known and we also know that Newey could talk a year off and go on a sabbatical. There are also talks swirling around that Newey was interested in Ferrari for less money but the problem is Ferrari won't give him 100% control of the technical side of the team. :-/ Newey to Ferrari would've been sweet.
As for the fresh start on 2026, I think Ferrari will be ahead of the pack in terms of engine power. No good reason why, except that Lewis Hamilton has a knack for transferring to the best F1 team after major rule changes.
While I do agree that Newey is by far the best at what he does, Ferrari is not a team that you take the full control no matter who you are, they would rather lose than give the keys to one person, that's just not how their business operates. They are famously a "race company that sells cars", they are not a car company that also races like Mercedes, Mercedes could stop f1 today and would still sell a ton of cars, probably do not sell that much just because of F1 anyway, or red bull could still keep on selling their drinks.
But Ferrari isn't like that, they are not selling cars as a business, their business is racing, they are a racing team, they only sell cars in order to afford racing and that's the biggest difference. That's why you could never have 100% control there.
Newey would be fine with Aston Martin, and Alonso will probably retire by 2026 so Max would be a good choice, and Stroll is doing fine as the owner, except keeping his son lol, but I am sure Lance will not be an issue to Max, they will keep on winning with Max if Newey builds another good car and I am sure he is already looking into new regulations and trying to figure out how to build a good car for that year.