Aston Martin reassigned Andy Cowell from the Group CEO and team-principal roles he held through 2025 to chief strategy officer ahead of the 2026 season. Technical chief Adrian Newey assumed the team principal role late in 2025. The move prompted questions in the paddock about whether a designer is the right fit for team leadership. As part of the wider reorganization, Aston Martin also reassigned Mike Krack to a trackside performance role.

The personnel changes were closely tied to Aston Martin’s switch from Mercedes-supplied engines to a bespoke Honda power unit, a technical shift sources say reshaped Cowell’s responsibilities. The team refocused him on optimizing technical partnerships with Honda, Aramco, and Valvoline. As a result, he attended Honda’s power-unit launch in Tokyo and Aston Martin’s 2026 car unveiling.

Cowell joined Aston Martin in 2024 after two decades at Mercedes High-Performance Powertrains and a spell out of the sport after 2020. Aston Martin insiders and PlanetF1 sources described relations as strained as Cowell’s remit narrowed after the engine homologation process, and some reports characterized the split as acrimonious. Reports differ on Cowell’s departure timeline, with several outlets saying he could leave in June or before the summer break, while others expect him to remain on Aston Martin’s books through year-end.

Fernando Alonso warned that the 2026 Formula 1 regulations, with increased electrification, strict energy-management rules, and tighter technical limits, risk reducing driver control and even taking some of the joy out of driving. Speaking after his first day in the Aston Martin AMR26 and again at the team launch in Saudi Arabia, the two-time world champion said the rules push electrification toward a near 50/50 split between electric and combustion power, making harvesting and electrical deployment central to race strategy. It also forces lifting and coasting, even during qualifying, as drivers may need to recharge the hybrid battery mid-session.

Alonso singled out specific technical constraints he called “over-restrictive,” including ramp-down rates, activation zones for overtake mode, and a rule requiring maximum energy deployment for one second at corner exits. He warned that extensive team simulation work under the new package left little room for individual talent to alter race outcomes, saying teams “had most answers by Thursday and there were few surprises by Sunday.” In addition, Also warned that the changes had reduced some of the “adrenaline” that came with lighter, louder cars of the late 1990s and early 2000s. He described the heightened energy-management requirements as “a bit annoying,” but also said teams and drivers would adapt, pointing to series such as IndyCar and the World Endurance Championship.

Reactions in the paddock were mixed: Lando Norris and Toto Wolff suggested smarter drivers could still gain an edge under the new rules, while Aston Martin designer Adrian Newey and driver Lance Stroll were more skeptical or indifferent about how racing style would change. Mercedes’ George Russell said he did not find the situation unnatural, and Haas rookie Oliver Bearman called it “a bit sad.” Aston Martin has pursued radical new design concepts for pre-season testing, and there were reported concerns about Honda’s power unit after a Barcelona shakedown. Alonso’s views carried extra weight given he is 44, has started a record 425 Grands Prix, and has an Aston Martin contract due to expire at the end of the season.

Cadillac has appointed Marc Hynes as Chief Racing Officer of its new Cadillac F1 team. He will lead driver development and align the squad’s sporting and technical operations as Cadillac prepares for its 2026 debut. Hynes’s remit includes aligning the driver roster with engineering, streamlining sporting and technical procedures, and shaping team culture and performance to strengthen collaboration between technical and sporting departments.

Hynes brings both racing and management pedigree. He was the 1999 British F3 champion and previously led driver development at the Marussia/Manor operation. He managed Project Forty Four and worked closely with Lewis Hamilton’s management from 2015–2021, briefly reuniting with Hamilton in 2024 before separating again ahead of his move to Cadillac. Team principal Graeme Lowdon, a former Marussia/Virgin colleague who now co-owns Equals Management with Hynes, described him as a major asset for the new operation.

Operationally, Hynes will work alongside Lowdon and directly manage race drivers Valtteri Bottas and Sergio Perez, while overseeing reserve driver Zhou Guanyu and test driver Colton Herta. Herta is competing in F2 in 2026 and seeking promotion to F1. Cadillac says Hynes will focus on driving peak performance across the driver program, where he intends to create “clarity, alignment, and discipline” so drivers and engineers can perform at their best as the team establishes its driver pathway and on-track program.

Kimi Antonelli walked away unhurt after a crash near his home in Serravalle, San Marino, on Saturday, Mercedes confirmed. The 19-year-old called the police to the scene after his privately owned Mercedes AMG GT 63 PRO 4MATIC+ struck a guardrail. Local officers attended, and Mercedes said Antonelli was the only person involved. The limited-edition “Motorsport Collectors Edition” AMG GT 63, one of 200 examples with hand-painted Petronas livery and a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, was damaged in the incident.

The Brackley-based Formula 1 squad described the incident as an isolated road accident and said it had no impact on the driver’s fitness ahead of the competitive build-up to the new season.

He is scheduled to drive the W17 in multiple sessions at the Bahrain test, including the opening day’s afternoon slot, alternating with teammate George Russell. The crash comes as Antonelli prepares for his second Formula 1 season with Mercedes, after recording three podiums in his rookie campaign, and taking his first pole in the Miami sprint. The Italian went on to finish seventh in the drivers’ championship, and Mercedes entered the Bahrain test among the title favorites as teams fine-tune cars ahead of the season-opening races.

Aston Martin staged a public launch in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, to reveal the AMR26 and its new satin green livery. However, a livestream of the event suffered technical glitches. The car is the first Aston Martin design under Adrian Newey and the team’s first works partnership with Honda. The AMR26 ran in an all-black/exposed-carbon test guise during a Barcelona shakedown two weeks earlier, appearing late on Day 4 and logging 65 laps.

Newey now serves as team principal while remaining managing technical partner. The AMR26 shows notable design changes, including revised suspension concepts and tight engine-bay packaging to accommodate Honda’s RA626H power unit. It also highlights a move away from some Mercedes customer components toward an in-house gearbox and rear-suspension solution. Honda praised the electric side of the RA626H while expressing less satisfaction with its combustion element. Reports around the return of works engines referenced regulatory disputes, such as an interpretation over compression ratios involving Mercedes.

Organisational shifts accompany the technical overhaul. Andy Cowell has moved to Chief Strategy Officer to coordinate the Honda integration, and Aston Martin has completed factory upgrades and a new wind tunnel. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were retained for a fourth successive season, with Alonso framing 2026 as a critical campaign, and owner Lawrence Stroll publicly defending the investment in the team.

With limited early mileage from Barcelona, Aston Martin will run two Bahrain pre-season test windows, February 11–13 and February 18–20, to validate the car’s concepts and assess reliability before the championship begins. The AMR26, its Honda power unit, and the reworked organisation were presented as the centerpiece of a technical, livery, and competitive reset ahead of the 2026 season.