Adrian Newey is building an Aston Martin title winning car and here is the F1 star who will drive it

It's been a horrid 2026 for Adrian Newey, whose first Aston Martin car has been, well, a word that rhymes with quit.

Nobody quite saw how bad the Aston Martin AMR26 was going to be but the warning signs were there long before they barely made it to January's shakedown test in Barcelona.

Newey arrived in March 2025 having completed his gardening leave from Red Bull, and at that point Aston Martin, waiting for his input, were already three months at least behind their rivals in trying to put together a new car for the vastly changed rules and regulations for the 2026 season. There was no carry-on from 2025 - this was a complete reset.

That's also before you get to something Newey couldn't control, Honda's return to F1. This isn't the Honda that helped start powering Max Verstappen to four consecutive world championships either.

No, no no. Those guys, Honda's best engineers, of course had gone on to [checks notes] work on solar panel projects.

F1 HEADLINES: Max Verstappen future to be announced as Fernando Alonso signing priority outlined

Back of the line for Newey and Aston Martin

So for Aston Martin to start the season as one of the slowest teams, along with Cadillac, with a poor and overweight chassis combined with a slow and unreliable engine that shook its drivers to bits, the perceived under performance probably should have been expected.

In addition to this Newey has also spoken about procedures at the team which proved inefficient and had lingered since the early days of Jordan in the 1990s, the team that is now Aston Martin.

So, Newey had A LOT on his plate. And only now after half-a-season of no upgrades and falling to the back of the pack do there finally seem to be some smiles coming out of Aston Martin.

A Hungarian Grand Prix that saw 16 upgrades to the car resulted in Fernando Alonso taking an Aston Martin into the second qualifying session of a grand prix for the first time this season.

A respectable race for the team saw them competing in the lower midfield, and not at the back where they have been most of the campaign. What's more, a Honda upgrade is set to come after the summer break at Zandvoort for the Dutch Grand Prix.

Aston Martin's breakthrough moment

Perhaps the most crucial thing for Aston Martin in Hungary was that the upgrades worked. 'Well duh' I can hear you muttering behind the keyboard, but this was actually a big step for the team.

Since starting 2023 as the only team that could offer any sort of challenge to the Max Verstappen and Red Bull domination, Aston Martin have been slowly tumbling down the grid when it comes to outright pace.

A big reason for this is that upgrades were not producing the performance on the track that they were back in the factory and on simulations. The wind tunnel and simulators looked like they were about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike, but now appear to be fixed.

For Aston Martin to come to a race track, set expectations for their upgrades, and for those to be met is huge for the team. The comeback really does start now.

One season too many for Alonso

Sadly, it looks like it is going to be too late for Fernando Alonso, who has put up with enough nonsense in nearly four years at the team already.

Even if he does stick around for 2027, Aston Martin and Honda are unlikely to make enough ground to challenge for a world championship.

We can probably guess in this timeline that 2028 in theory could see a Newey Aston Martin car challenge for the title, but even if Alonso is still around, he would be 47 by the end of that season.

As good as the two-time world champion has proved in his 40s, becoming the oldest ever world champion seems a stretch.

So then who does get the keys... or over-buttoned steering wheel, as Aston Martin's lead driver in 2028?

Lewis Hamilton at this point is Ferrari or bust, Charles Leclerc doesn't look like he will leave the team either. Kimi Antonelli has a home at Mercedes or Ferrari, and Max Verstappen may have his eye set on both of those if not McLaren.

At McLaren Lando Norris seems settled, and while George Russell looks like being a driver caught in the shuffle at Mercedes, there could be a better candidate for Aston Martin.

Carlos Sainz's second chance after Ferrari

Carlos Sainz may be struggling at Williams but he has already proven at Ferrari he was a good match for Leclerc, who would be a worthy world champion.

The only reason Sainz isn't still at Maranello is because he had to make way for Hamilton. It certainly wasn't anything down to the Spaniard's ability, who has done relatively well as team-mates to world champions in Verstappen and Norris.

Sainz looks like he will have to stay at Williams for 2027 but after that he will be available again and in an excellent position to replace Alonso at Aston Martin.

He will be 34 at that point, but the likes of Hamilton, Alonso and even in the past Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen have proved that being an F1 driver in your 30s is nothing to worry about.

If Aston Martin keep improving, they will become major contenders and while the current big names fight it out among Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren, Sainz could be the one to inherit the Newey Aston Martin rocketship that is destined to arrive at some point.

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Written by

Dan Ripley - Global Editor

I've been a massive F1 fan since the mid 1990s and continue to study the history of the sport long before that. As an experienced motor sport reporter covering F1, MotoGP and the LeMans 24 Hour race, being part of GPFans has allowed me to work with a diverse team with all sorts of different backgrounds in watching the sport and given me a greater appreciation of F1.

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