"It never rains, but it pours" - Adrian Newey opens up on what’s gone wrong for Aston Martin in 2026

Team principal Adrian Newey says that Aston Martin’s struggles at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season were a case of “it never rains, but it pours.”

Newey admits that firefighting with fundamental power unit and gearbox issues in early testing gave the team little time to work on its chassis and aero package – but as the races got underway, it soon became clear that there were problems in all areas.

They ran so deep that it was quickly decided to focus on a single major upgrade package, which he has now confirmed will debut in Hungary. It features heavily revised aero as well as significant weight-saving.

“Melbourne was the wake‑up call,” Newey said in an interview on the Aston Martin website. “Because of various power unit challenges, our first proper running was actually FP3 at the Australian GP. 

“Before that, in Barcelona and at the two Bahrain tests, we spent too much time in the garage just trying to get the power unit to run correctly with the chassis and gearbox.

"You know the idiom, 'it never rains, but it pours,' and this is one of those classic cases where it felt like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.”

Newey admitted that it was a difficult time for all concerned, especially given the inevitable buzz around the relationship with Honda.

“Extremely challenging,” he said. “On both the chassis side and the power unit side, we've been on the back foot from the start. In hindsight, we probably put too much expectation on ourselves – and of course, you must never forget the quality of the opposition you're up against across the grid.

"We didn't start serious work on the '26 car until mid-March 2025 and didn't get a model into the wind tunnel until mid‑April. That left us several months behind our rivals – and that's a huge gap to close.”

He conceded that the late start wasn’t the only factor, and that there were also structural issues to address within the Silverstone camp.

“Timing was a huge part of it, but not the only part,” he said. “We've got a very talented group of people, but as an organisation we weren't yet working together as well as you would like, and operating as one cohesive unit. Expectations were sky‑high, but the reality of where we were didn't match that.

“On the chassis side, we're quite a long way overweight. Some of that comes from integrating the power unit and dealing with vibration issues we've had to work through with Honda, but we also didn't do as good a job as we should have on our side at saving weight. When you design in a rush, weight is the first thing that suffers because you don't have the time to thoroughly optimise everything.

“Aerodynamically, we also took a bold direction – which was largely pushed by me – without the luxury of exploring multiple concepts in depth because time was against us. I wouldn't say the direction we've taken is fundamentally wrong, but it has thrown up challenges we didn't anticipate.”

The decision to focus on one major package to be introduced in July was debated internally, but was eventually agreed.

“Once we all got over the initial shock of where we were, the reaction was actually very positive, and this is what really sticks in my mind,” said Newey. “The whole group pulled together around two clear priorities. First, to pull ourselves out of the hole with a major update before the August break, second, to build the foundations properly for the future.

“It's something every single one of us in the team should be proud of – the way we've all pulled together.”

Newey is adamant that the team has responded well despite the obvious frustrations associated with the poor on-track form as others improve their cars.

“You walk around the AMR Technology Campus at night, and the lights are still on,” he said. “There are a lot of late evenings, a lot of motivation, and a real determination to prove that we can do this. We have the facilities, we have the people, we have huge amounts of talent. 

“The task is to make it all gel – and to an extent, take the pressure off us so we can breathe and concentrate on medium‑ and long‑term projects, not just the next race.

“That means not only solving our immediate aero and mechanical issues, but also introducing better systems and processes that underpin how we design and build the car.”

Newey believes that the team will be in much improved shape after the problems drove major changes to the way the team operates.

"Very much so,” he said. “We've taken this difficult spell as an opportunity to overhaul how we work.

"We're making big strides in our in‑house facilities and production capabilities. You won't see all the gains immediately, but they'll be visible on the updated car – many more components are now produced in‑house. The gearbox casing is manufactured here, the floor patterns and floors themselves are made here, and a lot of parts that were previously outsourced have come back in-house.

"That gives us better cost control, but more importantly, much greater flexibility and control over our own destiny.

"Bringing more work in‑house gives us better quality control, better responsiveness and a tighter feedback loop from research to design to manufacture.”

He confirms that his own health issues, which restricted his appearances at circuits, were a setback.

“I'm OK now, but it's been a difficult period. As I said earlier, it never rains but it pours. In truth, I was not 100 per cent last year. I had to balance health and work much more carefully.

“The team handled it incredibly well. I kept a very good relationship with the engineers, and I don't feel it caused too much of a blip. That's a testament to how adaptable and supportive everyone here is.”