Newey: Aston Martin only began wind‑tunnel work mid‑April

Adrian Newey revealed that Aston Martin did not put its 2026 car into a wind tunnel until mid‑April 2025, roughly four months after the aero testing ban lifted on January 1, 2025, and after he joined the team on March 1, 2025. The CoreWeave wind tunnel only reached full operation in April, which Newey said created a “very, very compressed research and design cycle” and meant the AMR26 “only came together at the last minute.” That timing left Aston Martin at a material deficit compared with rivals that began wind‑tunnel and CFD work immediately after the ban ended. Newey described the AMR26 as a much more tightly packaged and ambitious design that required close coordination between aerodynamic and mechanical teams.

The compressed schedule forced a last‑minute push to get the car to a five‑day Barcelona shakedown, flown from the factory via Birmingham and Girona. The AMR26 made a very late appearance in the penultimate hour of the opening test, completing 65 laps across that final hour and the subsequent Friday running, and managed only one full day of running after a few laps the evening before. That limited on‑track mileage left Aston Martin with a steep development curve and less aero validation than rivals ahead of the season. Newey said mechanical designers “really embraced” the tight packaging despite added complexity, but acknowledged the timing and operational constraints constrained early validation.

He framed the slow early mileage as a technical and logistical setback rather than a permanent deficit and signaled an active in‑season upgrade program. Newey warned the car would continue to evolve through the season, with upgrades planned so the Aston Martin that appears at the Australian Grand Prix will be substantially different from the one that finishes in Abu Dhabi. The team has clear targets to improve drivability and race pace for drivers Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso as it works to close the gap opened by the delayed and compressed development. Overall, the AMR26 represents an ambitious step for Aston Martin that combined aggressive packaging with an accelerated rollout and an ongoing upgrade pathway driven by catch‑up development.