Adrian Newey’s MP4-20 ‘beast’ transformation explains Aston Martin’s unwavering faith

Adrian Newey’s transformation of the McLaren MP4-20 into a ‘beast’ offers insight into why Aston Martin has full faith in a performance turnaround.

Aston Martin is a few weeks away from rolling out a significant upgrade package that is anticipated to unlock a chunk of laptime and performance, marking what could be the start of a big upswing in the team’s fortunes.

Pedro de la Rosa explains Adrian Newey’s McLaren turnaround

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Newey’s tenure as team boss and managing technical partner of Aston Martin has already been a storied one, with the legendary car designer taking on roles of increased responsibility at his new team since arriving at Lawrence Stroll’s squad in early 2025.

Newey’s first offering, the AMR26, has been a very troubled machine since it first rolled out on track in Barcelona almost six months ago, with Newey opting against introducing a steady supply of upgrades in order to concentrate on a more fundamental package; this significant upgrade is scheduled to roll out at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

But the lack of upgrades has meant Aston Martin has had to spend most of the first half of the season toiling at the back, having had to work closely with Honda in order to establish a baseline of reliability before starting to look at ways to improve performance.

With just a solitary point to its name, Aston Martin’s 2026 has been dismal from a competitive perspective, but the introduction of the updated AMR26 and an ADUO-granted Honda power unit over the coming weekends is likely to mark the start of a more positive trend for Newey’s squad.

Prior to the British Grand Prix, Newey detailed the revitalisation of Aston Martin’s processes as part of an update on the changes to the car, and, amidst the swell of optimism surrounding the squad, team spokesperson Pedro de la Rosa said the transparency of the process has worked to help keep the squad united.

“I wouldn’t say there’s a vibe change. It has been the same since the beginning of the season,” he told PlanetF1.com, in an exclusive interview.

“We obviously realised we were far away from where we wanted to be and, since then, the team put a plan together. We just have been working towards it, knowing that, as we’re going through a period of not introducing upgrades in the car that is painful, but I think that the vibe is still the same.

“We are still united, we’re working well, and we’re working towards a plan, and I think that has been key in the sense that everyone has been informed of what we were doing and when we were doing it.

“This hasn’t been easy, and when things are not easy is when things can fall apart, but we have really stayed together and united, and also having the confidence that we could pull it around.”

De La Rosa has copious amounts of experience working with Newey in the past, having been McLaren’s test driver in the mid-2000s as the British designer worked on improving the MP4-17D to give Kimi Raikkonen a shot at the 2003 title.

De La Rosa has had the experience of driving the stillborn MP4-18, the troubled offering from Newey that never managed to get to a level of preparedness to actually race, as well as the MP4-19 through its initial iteration before its evolution into a much-improved B-spec, and was also in position to experience the MP4-20; one of Newey’s fastest creations, if not the most reliable.

His long-standing experience with Newey means the Spaniard knows how the British designer ticks and, after insisting that Newey “hasn’t changed one bit” over the two decades since first working together, explained why he, amongst others, finds it so easy to keep the faith.

“He’s just super good, because that’s Adrian,” he said.

“With no filters, that’s how he is within the factory, within everyone in the team when he talks to Lance and Fernando, and I think that’s why he’s such a good leader, because the key in our current situation is that everyone has been informed of the plan we were following.

“Now, the world or the people might sound surprised, because you consider that interview to be very, very transparent, but that’s the reason why we have kept calm within the organisation, because everyone had this information.

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“That’s why we are not that surprised, and that’s why Lance and Fernando have kept their heads down.

“He’s the type of engineer that likes to talk and ask questions of the drivers, get their feedback, write it down, and come back with solutions.

“He is so complete; he doesn’t only rely on data, he relies on data and human feedback.

“I know it sounds trivial, because you think that’s how it normally is. Well, it isn’t: in a data-driven sport like Formula 1, there are more and more engineers that obviously take notes of what drivers say, but they don’t take it to the extent that Adrian does in actually going into the details.

“At the end of the day, I think that’s what makes Adrian so special; my experience with him when I worked at McLaren is that he always wanted to know why you couldn’t go any faster, and that’s something no sensor, no data can show or prove to any engineer.”

As an example, De La Rosa pointed to an experience he had with Newey at the 2005 Australian Grand Prix. In those days, some of the teams were permitted to run a third car in the first practice session and, at McLaren, De La Rosa was the driver set loose in the spare MP4-20.

“I remember that at Turn 1, he said, ‘Which is the worst corner?’ and I said, ‘Turn 1 because I cannot go any faster through there’,” De La Rosa recounted.

“He asked, ‘Why can’t you go any faster?’ and I said, ‘Well, because if I throw the car, I will have more understeer’, and he asked why I didn’t put more [steering] lock?

“I said, ‘Adrian, I can put more lock, but the more lock I put, there’s a point that the steering feels very light, and there’s no front grip’. He asked me to demonstrate the steering angle I was talking about.

“I showed him, and he started writing down, and he said, ‘That’s above six degrees, and above six degrees, we have no data in the wind tunnel. The car is designed up to six degrees, and the problem you’re having is that, above six degrees, we have no data, and therefore what you’re saying makes complete sense to me; it’s an unexplored area of the car, but I will work on that. ‘

“So, a couple of races later, he made a mod in the front wing, and that’s the story of the MP4-20. We were the fastest car in 2005. We didn’t win the championship because mainly we were unreliable, but we were the fastest. It was a beast.

“It’s an example of how he identifies the problem and comes up with solutions, because we can only identify problems; I can identify problems, but I won’t be able to come up with solutions that make the car faster. He has both. He’s a very complete engineer, and a guy that I really enjoy working with, because you feel you are important to him as a driver.

“We all know that he knows what he’s doing. I mean, there’s no question about that. We are not in the place where we wanted to be, but we will turn it around with his help.

“I’ve seen it before; I wouldn’t say it’s not a problem, because everything is a problem in Formula 1. You’re always out of time, you’re always pushing the limits, but he knows what needs to be done, and he delivers, so we just have to keep pushing. There’s no secret, really.”

While Newey’s past experience and track record are beyond comparison, the Aston Martin workforce, mostly, have not worked with him. So how has the British designer managed to instil such blind faith in the face of the on-track realities that have played out this season?

“He has this character, this attitude of knowing what he’s doing and what is wrong, that gives you this blind faith that you will come on top,” De La Rosa reflected, upon this question.

“It’s very difficult to put in words the feeling, but it’s not because he’s won so many world championships that you have this blind faith.

“When I was at McLaren in 2003, we were facing different, difficult challenges. When you spoke with Adrian, it was like, ‘Wow, we know what we’re doing now. We are on the right track’, and this is what Adrian brings. You know, he really knows what he’s doing. He is extremely strong in identifying what is wrong with the car, what part, and why.

“It is very important because it just saves so much time, and there’s no time available in Formula 1, but it is this sense of urgency that he brings that is so positive for the team.”

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