Aston Martin’s start to the 2026 Formula 1 season has been far below expectations. After seven rounds, the team sits second from bottom in the constructors’ championship with only one point, ahead only of Cadillac, a brand new entry that was always expected to need time.
The scale of Aston Martin’s struggles has made it one of the biggest surprises of the season. The team entered 2026 with huge attention around Adrian Newey’s arrival, several major technical hires and upgraded facilities at Silverstone. Instead of moving closer to the front, the AMR26 has become one of the slowest cars on the grid.
Fernando Alonso made the situation clear after qualifying last in Barcelona, saying Aston Martin currently has both the “worst car” and the “worst engine” in Formula 1. It remains hard to separate the impact of Honda’s power unit from the wider car concept, but the results have left Aston Martin well short of its pre season targets.
Aston Martin’s Belief in Newey Remains Strong
Despite the poor opening phase of the year, Aston Martin’s faith in Newey appears unchanged. Team ambassador Pedro de la Rosa, who drove Newey designed cars during the engineer’s time at McLaren in the 2000s, believes the qualities that made Newey successful are still there.
De la Rosa said he sees no real difference in Newey compared with their McLaren days, other than the fact that he no longer gets to drive his cars. He described Newey as fully committed and praised his work ethic.
For de la Rosa, one of Newey’s greatest strengths is the way he listens to drivers and turns their feedback into practical changes on the car. In an era where teams rely heavily on data, he feels Newey still gives rare value to what the driver says from inside the cockpit.
De la Rosa Recalls Newey’s Driver Feedback Method
De la Rosa shared one example from the 2005 Australian Grand Prix weekend, when he drove McLaren’s third car in practice. After a few laps, Newey asked him why he could not go faster into Turn 1.
De la Rosa explained that the car understeered when he turned in, so he could not carry more speed. Newey then asked him to show how much steering angle he was using at the apex. De la Rosa demonstrated it with his hands, and Newey immediately estimated it at around six degrees.
Newey told him that in the wind tunnel, they could not go beyond that steering angle because the model could not generate the same yaw and steering movement. He then said he had some ideas.
By the next race, Newey had made changes to the front wing, and the car became much less sensitive to steering input. De la Rosa said that moment summed up Newey: he listens carefully, takes notes and then delivers a solution.
Spa Upgrade Becomes Key Target for Aston Martin
Aston Martin is not following the 2026 pattern of bringing frequent upgrade packages race after race. Instead, the team is focusing on a major update planned for Spa, while Honda continues working on improvements to its power unit.
That approach puts more weight on the next big development step. The AMR26 needs a clear shift in performance if Aston Martin wants to rescue its season, and Newey’s influence will be central to that effort.
For now, the results remain poor, but inside the team the belief in Newey’s methods has not faded. His record with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull still carries huge weight, and de la Rosa believes his ability to connect driver feeling with engineering answers remains one of Aston Martin’s strongest reasons for optimism.
