Adrian Newey to be ‘critical’ in Aston Martin F1 2026 turnaround
Adrian Newey has been described as "critical" for the Aston Martin recovery
In times of crisis, Aston Martin needs a leader. In Adrian Newey, Pedro de la Rosa believes it has found one.
Newey has been described by de la Rosa as “critical” to the recovery mission, as it looks to bounce back from a difficult second test in Bahrain.
Can Adrian Newey lead Aston Martin recovery?
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An energy recovery system issue curtailed Fernando Alonso’s running on the penultimate day, with a lack of available spares saw Lance Stroll complete just six laps on Friday, without setting a time.
The AMR26 is Aston Martin’s first F1 car designed under Adrian Newey, the design guru having also taken on the team principal role for F1 2026.
Speaking in Bahrain, de la Rosa, who has increasingly become the face of Aston Martin through testing in F1 2026, described Newey’s leadership as inspiring.
“I don’t think that the team has changed that much. We are the same people. We are the same. It’s just the fact that since Adrian has arrived, his leadership is unquestionable,” de la Rosa told PlanetF1.com and others.
“The biggest difference I felt is, for example, yesterday, after a very difficult day testing here in Bahrain, he spoke on the technical debrief, and his leadership is so strong that all the team knows exactly what they have to do.
“And this is very different from previous years. Where everyone could have their own theory about things, or Adrian is very clear what has to be done, and no one raises the hand to question him. Therefore, you have this massive amount of resources working in one single direction.
“I know it might not sound convincing to you, but believe me, sitting there and listening to these moments was very, very inspiring for all of us, especially when things go wrong.
“When things go right, we don’t need a leader. It’s when things go wrong.
“It’s critical,” he added of Newey’s experience as it works through its early-season issues. “A turning point is having Adrian in the team.
“We’re not happy. I mean, let’s be honest, no one is happy when you are a second slower than what you were expecting.
“But it’s true as well to say that no one is worried. It’s different. We’re not happy, but we are not like, ‘Oh, this is it.’ No, no way.”
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There are a lot of ingredients coming together for Aston Martin in F1 2026. Newey’s maiden creation for the team was designed in the new Aston Martin wind tunnel, and is being powered by a new Honda engine, in the first year of that Aston Martin and Honda partnership with the two only coming together formally in recent months.
Both the chassis and engine have been designed to new-look regulations while Newey himself only started in March.
Aston Martin also brought its new simulator online at the start of 2025.
The task of bringing various puzzle pieces together is significant, hence in many respects the initial issues with the AMR26 are nothing bizarre, albeit unexpected.
Heading into F1 2026, the messaging from the team was ‘judge us at the end of the year, rather than the start’. Now, it looks as though the coming campaign will be altogether more difficult.
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