Adrian Newey’s intriguing first Aston Martin F1 car breaks cover

Aston Martin’s 2026 F1 car has made its very first track appearance as the team finally joined the Barcelona shakedown on Thursday.

The Silverstone-based squad announced at the start of the week that they would miss at least one of their three permitted test days in the five-day opening pre-season test in Spain due to delays with the build of their 2026 car.

Aston Martin flew their AMR26 in to Girona airport on Wednesday evening and assembled their new challenger overnight at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

The AMR26 rolled out of the Aston Martin garage at around 5pm local time (4pm UK time)  in the hands of Lance Stroll who headed out for the final hour of the session. Teammate Fernando Alonso is set to drive on Friday.

The first sighting of the brand new Aston Martin, decked in an all-black testing livery, revealed incredibly aggressive undercut sidepods and an intriguing engine cover and airbox arrangement.

It is the first Aston Martin to be produced by legendary F1 car designer Adrian Newey, who has also assumed the role of team principal for the forthcoming 2026 season.

Expectations are high for Aston Martin at the start of F1’s rules reset given Newey’s involvement in the design and build of the car and the new facilities at their state-of-the-art Silverstone campus.

Aston Martin are also becoming an exclusive works team in 2026 by switching to Honda power units.

The team finished seventh in a disappointing 2025 season but are looking to compete for world championships in the coming years.

2026 will provide a first reflection of how close Aston Martin are to achieving the lofty ambitions set out by Canadian billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll.