May 24 (GMM) Adrian Newey admits he has “no idea” whether his first Aston Martin will be a winner next year.
Formula 1’s most famous, successful and highly-paid designer started work at the team in March – but Monaco is his first trackside appearance wearing green.
Until his departure last year, the 66-year-old was no longer working full time at Red Bull – but he revealed in Monaco that he has been more than full-time at Aston Martin.
“I took a weekend off two weeks ago,” the Briton smiled, “but other than that, I’ve been at the factory since March.
“My wife says I go into a trance when I’m designing, and I can understand what she means because it’s a period of intense concentration, with all my processing power poured into the design.”
Indeed, Newey’s arrival at Aston Martin could not be more timely, as it coincides with his absolute speciality – mastering a radical new set of regulations from the very start.
Earlier, however, he was not enthusiastic about the 2026 regulations.
“My first reaction when I saw them was the same as it was in 2022 – I thought there wasn’t much room for the designer,” he said in Monaco.
“But when you get into the details, there’s reasonable flexibility. You’d always like more, but I imagine there will be different solutions at the start of next year before everything starts to converge over the following seasons.”
Newey says he spends “99 percent” of his time on the 2026 project, but often sits down “with the group still working on the 2025 car”.
“We discuss the strengths and weaknesses, and maybe my colleagues can learn something from that.”
One worry for Newey is that despite Aston Martin’s huge recent investments in infrastructure, he still sees weaknesses.
“You could say that some of our tools are weak,” he told Spain’s AS newspaper. “Particularly the simulator. It needs a lot of work because there’s no correlation at the moment, and it’s a fundamental development tool.
“Not having that is a limitation, but we have to work in the meantime. It’s probably a two-year project.”
Newey continued: “The people are very good, but we need them to work together, perhaps with a better organisation. It’s a result of the team’s origins in Jordan, Force India, Racing Point. It was a team that performed above its capabilities, but in a very short time they’ve grown enormously.
“Now all that needs to be adjusted accordingly.”
Newey is perfectly happy with the new wind tunnel and factory, which he describes as “indisputably the best in Formula 1”.
However: “They’re very complex tools, still in the development phase, so the productivity isn’t there yet. You need a good wind tunnel, but in the end, what makes the difference is the human element.”
Arguably another clear weakness at Aston Martin is the driver lineup. Fernando Alonso is one of F1’s all-time greats, but he is 43 and only signed up for 2026.
Lance Stroll, on the other hand, is the son of team owner Lawrence Stroll – and, in the eyes of many, he is only still wearing green for that reason alone.
Newey defends the 26-year-old Canadian.
“When you compare Lance to the teammates he’s had, Checo (Perez), Nico Hulkenberg, Sebastian (Vettel), now Fernando, he’s always been there. Every driver he’s had in front of him has been very good, and Lance is much better than people think.”
As for Alonso, Newey commented: “Fernando is very important.
“He’s been an enemy for many years, along with Lewis (Hamilton), but I think I’ve said it before that the two drivers of the modern era I want to work with are Lewis and Fernando.
“I haven’t been able to work with both of them, but at least I have Fernando now,” he smiled.
But when asked if Alonso will finally have a car with which to win a third world championship in his hands next year, Newey admitted: “I have no idea.”
