Adrian Newey's F1 design questioned by team rival

Newey on the grid in Qatar — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Adrian Newey's F1 design questioned by team rival

James Vowles is impressed by Aston Martin's AMR26

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 9 February 2026 11:55 Updated: 14:35

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Adrian Newey's first Aston Martin F1 car design has caught the eye of one of his rivals in the sport, ahead of the 2026 season.

Newey joined Aston Martin as a managing technical partner back in March off the back of a highly-successful spell at Red Bull between 2006-2024, and he is now also the team principal of the Silverstone-based outfit.

Later today (Monday February 9) the team will host their 2026 car launch with expectation running high that the Newey factor will bring a major uptick in fortunes.

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Across his career, design legend Newey's cars have won 25 world championships, and he is largely considered to be the greatest F1 car designer of all time.

He is now seeking to turn Aston Martin into a championship-challenging outfit, but firstly, the team's goal will be to challenge higher up the F1 grid, having finished seventh in the constructors' championship in 2025 and not having claimed a podium since 2023.

One of their rivals in that condensed F1 midfield in 2025 were Williams, who managed to pick up two grand prix podiums and a sprint podium courtesy of Spaniard Carlos Sainz.

Despite a few setbacks during pre-season, Williams are hoping to once again challenge for a top-five constructors' championship finish in 2026, but might face stiffer competition from the likes of Aston Martin, Audi and Alpine this year.

Team principal James Vowles admitted at the launch of the team's FW48 that he has been impressed by Newey's AMR26 design, which was on show for the first time at the private shakedown in Barcelona last month.

Having been talking to media about how all of his rivals have been shaping up, Vowles then went on to say: "You mentioned the Aston. It’s really impressive.

"Adrian is just a creative designer and it’s really impressive what he’s done with wishbones in places that I don’t think they should be, but he’s done them.

"What’s interesting, though, is it’s exactly that that you need as a narrative. I mentioned before it’s hard for anyone to tell you where the ordering is, because also I don’t think the cars you necessarily see today will be the cars you see in Melbourne.

"That’s what makes it interesting in the beginning of season. So they’ve impressed me, but where they all sit? It’s hard to tell."

Can Aston Martin help Alonso return to winning ways?

Fernando Alonso is approaching the 23rd season of his F1 career, with his longevity meaning that he has raced in more grands prix than any other driver in the history of the sport.

However, the two-time world champion has not won a championship title since 2006, and he hasn't even claimed an F1 race victory since the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.

He and Newey have always seemed to miss each other throughout their illustrious careers, but now at 44 years of age, Alonso is finally able to drive a Newey-designed car.

And Alonso will be hoping that the AMR26 can give him one last opportunity to fight for podiums and race victories, with the Spaniard currently set to be out of contract at the end of this year.

But the noise that has come from both Aston Martin and their new power unit partners Honda throughout the winter break has been fairly level-headed, suggesting that they will not be where they want to be in this regulations reset until 2027 or 2028.

It remains to be seen whether or not Alonso opts to stick around to wait for that beyond the end of this season.

F1 Aston Martin Adrian Newey Williams 2026 regulations James Vowles