Adrian Newey celebrates Aston Martin turnaround with heartfelt team radio message

When Adrian Newey went on team radio in Zandvoort on Sunday afternoon, it was a heartfelt moment which started to wash away months of pain for Aston Martin.

When the legendary 67-year-old F1 design genius was hired by billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll in late 2024, he was expected to usher in a new era of success for the Silverstone-based team.

Newey's first car with Aston Martin came to the racetrack to start the 2026 season amid ridiculous hype, but instead of contending for points and race wins it spent the first ten races as a backmarker and a laughing stock.

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Chassis and power unit issues for Aston Martin

Aston Martin's pain came from a mix of sources, both from the chassis (Newey explained the team's legacy infrastructure issues in depth back in June) and the much-maligned Honda power unit.

The tide started to turn though at the Hungarian Grand Prix in late July, with Newey bringing a massive package of 16 upgrades to the AMR26 car. The results were impressive as two-time world champion Alonso was able to make it out of Q1.

Fast forward to the weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix, and there was further progress for the team in green. Despite the teething problems for an upgraded power unit, Alonso was able to score two points with a brilliant drive to P9.

Newey's big 'thank you' to Alonso

The progress that the team have made in a short space of time - after a long and painful wait for those upgrades to arrive - is undeniable. And Newey marked the moment at Zandvoort by congratulating Alonso in an untelevised team radio message.

He said: "Well done Fernando, that was a great drive. Very disciplined and a great boost for everybody back at Silverstone. Thank you."

Alonso responded: "Yeah, absolutely, Thanks to you guys, everyone in Silverstone, amazing. Lovely car to drive. And more to come, I know. Thank you, thank you."

The 45-year-old Spaniard was quick to praise Newey's new-look chassis throughout the weekend, describing the leaps in lap time as "incredible". Newey meanwhile believes there is still more potential to unlock.

Alonso future still to be decided

Now Honda will look to make further tweaks to that power unit in the hope that Aston Martin can soon be perennially challenging for points.

The timing of all this could be perfect when it comes to Alonso's future as well. He remains the biggest domino to fall in silly season 2026 after those huge deals handed to Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen last week.

Alonso has said he will decide soon whether to sign a new deal with Aston, with retirement or a potential move to Alpine (and a Flavio Briatore reunion) the other rumoured options.

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