F1 legend Adrian Newey’s ‘aggressive’ Aston Martin decision to blame for slow progress

Adrian Newey scowling with a cup of coffee — Photo: © IMAGO

Aston Martin F1

Adrian Newey’s ‘aggressive’ Aston Martin decision to blame for slow progress

Adrian Newey developed an aggressive AMR26 chassis ahead of the season

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 4 May 2026 09:43

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While most of Aston Martin's problems throughout 2026 have been attributed to their power unit, a new report suggests that Adrian Newey could be partly to blame.

Aston Martin are currently sat rock bottom of the constructors' championship standings.

The team have improved their reliability during the April break, with both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finishing a race together for the first time at the Miami Grand Prix.

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Aston Martin have had five weeks to try and sort things out, and their power unit manufacturer Honda have been working hard to try and solve some of their power output and reliability issues.

But now, The Race are reporting that part of the work that Honda have had to do during the spring break is developing and testing their power unit in the back of the AMR26 chassis for the first time, having not had chance to do that before the season started.

The above report states that one of the reasons for this might have been because Aston Martin's chassis was ready late, with the Silverstone-based outfit missing large parts of the Barcelona shakedown test because of Newey pushing for a more aggressively built chassis.

At Sakura during the five-week break, Honda were able to have the chassis there with them, helping them to develop and test the power unit.

Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer, Shintaro Orihara, told F1.com: "We took the opportunity to keep one of the AMR26 cars on site for further static testing in Sakura for the first time, focusing our efforts on reducing the vibrations and thus increasing reliability.

"We have made some progress, allowing us to implement further countermeasures in Miami and later in the season."

Is Newey's Aston Martin chassis any good?

Design legend Newey has claimed 26 world championships across his illustrious career, and is hoping to turn the Silverstone-based outfit into a championship-challenging team in the years to come.

However, the team's start has been disastrous and, although radical, Newey's 2026 car design has not escaped criticism.

It has recently been reported that, even if the AMR26 had one of the dominant Mercedes power units in the back of their cars, they would still only be fighting around the midfield with the likes of Alpine and Haas.

Having said that, scoring regular points like those two teams is something that Aston Martin can only dream of as things stand.

A long way to go for Newey, Honda and co if they are to become a serious championship-challenging outfit within the next few years.