F1 be warned, Adrian Newey's first Aston Martin car is on ANOTHER LEVEL

Newey on the grid in Qatar — Photo: © IMAGO

Aston Martin

F1 be warned, Adrian Newey's first Aston Martin car is on ANOTHER LEVEL

Adrian Newey has designed his first Aston Martin F1 car for 2026

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 1 February 2026 09:56

An Aston Martin F1 team member has described Adrian Newey's first design with the team as being 'on another level'.

Design legend Newey joined Aston Martin in March 2025, meaning the team's 2026 design is his first with the Silverstone-based squad.

Newey has previously worked with March/Leyton House, McLaren, Williams and Red Bull, claiming 25 championships across his time in the sport.

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And now the 67-year-old is attempting to turn Aston Martin into a championship-challenging outfit, with the immediate goal being to help Fernando Alonso claim a 33rd career race victory before he retires from the sport altogether.

Alonso drove Newey's AMR26 design for the first time last week, at the private Barcelona shakedown, the first pre-season testing event of 2026.

A number of pundits commented on how radical Newey's design is compared to some of Aston Martin's competitors, as they look to jump ahead of their rivals amid the wholesale regulation changes.

Now, Aston Martin fabrication leader Neil Zambardi-Christie has taken to LinkedIn to reveal his first thoughts of the 2026 car he helped to build.

"AMR26 - my 25th F1 car build, but my first 'Newey' car," he revealed in the post. "There's been some great cars over the years (and a couple of shockers) but this one is on another level. The design and attention to detail is incredible, but what's more impressive is the way in which the entire team has risen to the challenges created by the designs and timeframes involved," he said.

"Time will tell if it's any good, but if it goes as fast as it looks, we could be in for a good year..." Zambardi-Christie concluded.

Meanwhile, F1 journalist Craig Scarborough hinted that the Newey design could be a nod to what we should expect in 2027, saying about the AMR26: "The Aston Martin is a completely different car aerodynamically to everyone else. It’s almost like it’s next year’s car is out already.

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Will Newey bring success to Aston Martin?

Of course, managing technical partner-turned team principal Newey is not the only big name in the Aston Martin team, with the Silverstone outfit recently having brought Enrico Cardile to the team from Ferrari, as well as having two-time world champion Alonso driving their car.

For all his success, Newey has always stated he wanted to work with either Alonso or Lewis Hamilton, largely considered to be the best two drivers of their generation.

He now has the chance to return two-time world champion Alonso to winning ways, with the 44-year-old Spaniard having not claimed a title since 2006, or a race victory since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

2026 is the final year of Alonso's current contract, and he will be hoping he can add more podiums, a 33rd race victory and potentially another title to his tally.

Alonso has already stated that whether he signs a new contract or not will be entirely down to Aston Martin's 2026 performance. Should they be challenging for race wins and podiums, he said, then he will likely retire at the end of 2026, whereas if they are still in the midfield, he will likely sign a new contract and gamble on Newey and the rest of the team to turn things around in 2027 or 2028.

Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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F1 Aston Martin Adrian Newey 2026 regulations