Newey Steers Aston Martin AMR26 Recovery

Adrian Newey was credited with jump-starting Aston Martin’s recovery after a difficult recent preseason. He was appointed team principal in March while retaining his managing technical partner role, and owner Lawrence Stroll also named him to head the team’s operations. Newey designed the AMR26, the squad’s first Newey-designed car. Several figures in the paddock — including former driver Pedro de la Rosa — called his intervention “critical” and praised his clear technical direction; de la Rosa said the group was “not worried” and asked that judgment be reserved until the end of the season.

The problems Newey inherited were severe and multi-faceted. According to sources at the F1 Commission, he told rivals Honda’s new power unit was failing to harvest hybrid energy at the regulatory lower limit of 250 kW and could not reach the 350 kW threshold — a shortfall that reduced straight-line power and prevented engineers from gathering accurate aerodynamic data. Bahrain testing exposed reliability and supply issues: Aston Martin completed the fewest laps; Honda reportedly had only one functional battery by the final day; an energy recovery system fault curtailed Fernando Alonso’s running; and spare-part shortages limited Lance Stroll to a six-lap cameo. The team also suffered integration problems — its first in-house gearbox was “miscommunicating” with the engine and producing erratic behavior — prompting some paddock observers to warn Aston Martin risked being the slowest team, might miss the 107% qualifying threshold and could even be unable to start the season opener in Australia.

Aston Martin has leaned on new infrastructure and intensive data collection while seeking technical fixes. The AMR26 was built in the team’s new wind tunnel and the simulator came online at the start of 2025; during curtailed running in Bahrain the squad focused on logging as much data as possible to diagnose the issues. Team figures urged caution in judgment but said resolving Honda’s hybrid energy recovery shortfall and the gearbox–engine integration will be decisive if Newey’s technical leadership, the new facilities and the Honda partnership are to close the performance gap.