F1 Australian Grand Prix: Adrian Newey told to face the music as Aston Martin crisis deepens

Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey told to face the music as Aston Martin F1 crisis deepens

The Aston Martin team principal has been summoned to an FIA press conference

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Wednesday 4 March 2026 19:43 Updated: 19:56

F1 team principal Adrian Newey must face the media at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix as the word continues to spread over just how far behind the rest of the pack his new Aston Martin squad really are.

Newey is best known for his outstanding contributions to F1 through his design work, which helped secure a total of 26 drivers’ and constructors’ championship titles.

But in 2026, the British engineering genius is taking on another challenge after joining Aston Martin, where he will now act not only as their managing technical partner but also as their new team principal.

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After a disastrous start for the Silverstone team at pre-season testing, reports from Italy have claimed Aston Martin may be struggling to even have the parts to take to Melbourne this weekend for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

On top of that, it has also been said they will do enough to get themselves to the line for Sunday's grand prix, but may only be able to complete a few laps before retiring both of their cars to avoid triggering further issues with their problematic new Honda power units.

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Newey summoned for FIA Australian GP press conference

The team themselves have not issued an official response to these worrying reports ahead of the first round of the F1 2026 championship which kicks off in just a matter of days.

However, answers could come soon given that Newey himself has been summoned as part of the lineup for the first FIA team principals press conference of the 2026 campaign.

On Friday, Newey will join fellow new team boss Graeme Lowdon, who is leading American squad Cadillac in their first season in the sport, and seasoned F1 boss Toto Wolff, who heads up the Mercedes F1 team.

The trio will all face questions from F1 media ahead of the first round of the 2026 campaign, with Aston Martin's woes likely to be the hot topic.

Thursday's media day will see Nico Hulkenberg, Valtteri Bottas and George Russell attend the first driver press conference of the weekend, before Lewis Hamilton, Oscar Piastri and Arvid Lindblad take to the sofa for the second session of the day.

The team principals press conference will come the following day, with the top three fastest drivers summoned to the media session after qualifying on Saturday, with the same being required of the top three fastest drivers from the Australian GP on Sunday.

Below is the full schedule, as published by the FIA, please note all times are local (AEDT).

Australian GP FIA Press Conferences Schedule
Date	Time	Driver/Team Member	Session
Thursday 5 March	13:30	Nico Hulkenberg (Audi), Valtteri Bottas (Cadillac), George Russell (Mercedes)	Drivers’ Press Conference
Thursday 5 March	14:00	Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari), Oscar Piastri (McLaren), Arvid Lindblad (Racing Bulls)	Drivers’ Press Conference
Friday 6 March	14:30	Adrian Newey (Aston Martin), Graeme Lowdon (Cadillac), Toto Wolff (Mercedes)	Team Principals Press Conference
Saturday 7 March	Post-Qualifying	Top three fastest drivers	Post-Qualifying Press Conference
Sunday 8 March	Post-Race	First three finishing drivers	Post-Race Press Conference

Written by

Kerry Violet - F1 News Editor

Having graduated from the University of Sheffield with a 2:1 in Journalism in 2022, Kerry continued her pursuit of finding a full-time position in motorsport through work with the F1 Arcade in London, where she got to meet true fans of the sport and make a live grand prix watch party memorable for them. It was here that she confirmed her dream of combining her background in journalism and love of motorsport, going on to volunteer with the female-led platform Empoword Journalism. Having completed stints as a screen editor and sports editor, Kerry landed her first F1-specific editorial role with GPFans and has thoroughly enjoyed continuing to work closely with the sport ever since. The access GPFans offers Kerry has allowed her to interview big names such as Naomi Schiff and David Coulthard and given her experiences she could only have dreamt of as a young F1 fan.

View full biography

F1 FIA Aston Martin Adrian Newey 2026 regulations Australian Grand Prix