Jenson Button said he was “jealous” that Aston Martin drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll get to drive cars shaped by Adrian Newey and admitted he would love to try a Newey-designed car himself. Writing on the Aston Martin website in his “Jenson’s Journal,” the 2009 world champion — who retired at the end of 2025 and joined Aston Martin as a multi-year ambassador in February after moving his ambassador role from Williams — described watching Newey operate up close as “fascinating” and called him “old school” for sketching ideas in a notebook. Button said he even tried to sneak a peek at Newey’s notebook and that he would “jump at the chance” to do a demonstration run in a Newey car, though he joked that a full 24-race season in one would be too much.

Aston Martin, with Newey serving as its managing technical partner and team principal for 2026, endured a sluggish start under the new regulations. Media reports said the team had not yet scored a race win and had failed to record a classified finish early in the season, with Honda power-unit problems, including severe vibrations in Australia that limited running and disrupted qualifying, among the issues.

Button warned the new technical era has altered power-unit behavior, with hybrid deployment and brake-pressure interaction now influencing available power and forcing drivers to manage systems differently. Given Newey’s long record of championship-winning designs, Button and others have framed his arrival as a potential technical boost for the Silverstone-based squad.

Sources