Aston Martin fears revealed as F1 insider claims 'anyone I speak to looks depressed'

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

Aston Martin F1

Aston Martin fears revealed as F1 insider claims 'anyone I speak to looks depressed'

Adrian Newey was hoping to turn the team into a contender

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 11 May 2026 20:30 Updated: 21:12

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An F1 insider has spoken out about the mental state of the Aston Martin F1 team, following their dreadful start to the 2026 season.

Aston Martin are currently sat rock bottom of the constructors' championship with zero points, and the Miami Grand Prix was the first race in which both of their cars managed to finish the grand prix.

They have experienced terrible reliability issues since swapping out their Mercedes power units for Honda ones at the start of this year, but there are signs that those reliability concerns are now easing.

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However, the power output from the Honda power unit is still way down, and the team find themselves at the very back of the pack even when they are able to finish sessions.

At the Miami Grand Prix, the team did not bring a single upgrade to their Adrian Newey-designed chassis, despite having had a five-week break in the sport to try and work on their car design.

Now, Sky Sports F1 pundit Karun Chandhok has said that this is reflective of the mood in general within the team at the moment, who know that they are set for a long season ahead.

"We get provided with a document from the FIA where all the teams declare the updates and the upgrades that they've brought to a race weekend," Chandhok told the F1 Show.

"We scrolled down and the Aston page said nothing. There were no upgrades on the car, on the chassis. We know that they had the full car at Sakura in Japan after Suzuka to try and understand the vibration issue.

Deflation at Aston Martin

"We don't really get a clear answer as to how much has been resolved, the drivers are saying that the tingling feelings are better, so progress is being made, but at the end of the day, Lance Stroll was still five seconds behind Checo in that race and, with all due respect to Cadillac, they're a brand new team.

"This was the year that Aston were supposed to be going from the midfield to being a top five and, for me, it's really difficult to watch, just seeing that whole team, they're all working incredibly hard, but everyone just looks deflated.

"Anyone I speak to in green just looks depressed and deflated. It's a long old year for them isn't it."

Is it all on the Honda power unit?

The reason for the lack of upgrades being developed during the five-week break was mainly because Honda had the AMR26 back in Sakura, running tests and developments on the power unit alongside the car for the first time.

That has helped with their vibrations and the worst of their reliability issues, but Aston Martin are a long way from where they want to be.

With zero points on the board after four grand prix weekends, it's clear that Aston Martin are a long way from their ambition of being a championship-challenging outfit.

That was, after all, what Newey was brought in to help them with, and the 67-year-old Brit has claimed 26 world championships across his illustrious career so far.

But the legendary car designer has come in for some criticism himself so far this season.

An F1 insider recently stated that, even with the dominant Mercedes power unit in the back of an AMR26, the team would still be scrapping around the midfield with the likes of Haas and Alpine.

That suggests that there is something fundamentally wrong with Newey's chassis, and bringing upgrades to that is likely to be just as important as power unit development over the coming months.

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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