Aston Martin F1: Adrian Newey may have copied one of his iconic McLaren designs

Newey, copy right Aston Martin — Photo: © IMAGO

Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey's Aston Martin may have copied one of his iconic McLaren designs

An old design was spotted on the AMR26

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Tuesday 3 February 2026 21:12

A first look at the 2026 Aston Martin car suggests that Adrian Newey has copied one of his old F1 designs.

Newey has designed race and championship-winning cars at a variety of teams from Red Bull to Williams, with the British engineer also working at McLaren from 1997 until 2005.

His final design with the team — the MP4-20 — featured a set of horns positioned on either side of the car’s roll hoop, the purpose of which was to direct airflow towards the rear wing to enhance downforce.

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Newey's design won 10 races for McLaren in 2005, seven of which were achieved by Kimi Raikkonen and helped him fight for the title. However, it was Renault's Fernando Alonso who would win the championship in 2005, a strange link given that the Spaniard will now be driving a Newey-designed F1 car. And one with horns!

The 2005 design was spotted on the AMR26, albeit a smaller version of the horns, that were positioned on either side of Aston Martin's roll hoop, with Newey finding inspiration from one of his older cars.

The MP4-20 (McLaren, 2005) vs the AMR26 (Aston Martin, 2026)

What do we know about the AMR26?

The AMR26 made its debut at the Barcelona shakedown last week, finally taking to the track in a black testing livery on day four of the test.

Aston Martin's aggressive design caught the attention of their rivals, with Newey reflecting on the design of the AMR26 on the team's website.

"I never look at any of my designs as aggressive. I just get on with things and pursue what we feel is the right direction," he said.

"The direction we've taken could certainly be interpreted as aggressive. It's got quite a few features that haven't necessarily been done before. Does that make it aggressive? Possibly. Possibly not."

When asked about the design approach, Newey continued: "It starts with the overall packaging of the car: where is the car carried over the wheelbase, where are the main masses carried.

"Then it's worked through to the front and rear suspension – the front and rear suspension both have their own very important part to play in that manipulation of the flow field.

"You've got the front wing and the nose shape, which are somewhat different this year. You keep moving through to the sidepods, and the treatment around the rear of the car, which is certainly different to what we've done previously.

"Now, whether other people come up with a similar solution to ours, we don't know and we won't until we start seeing other people's cars. We've just tried to pursue what we think is the correct direction for us. Other people might have pursued other directions. It's part of the excitement of new regulations, seeing what everybody comes up with."

F1 McLaren Aston Martin Adrian Newey 2026 regulations