Adrian Newey has privately accepted that 2026 won’t be a ‘success’ before Aston Martin’s first lap

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Aston Martin have spent years looking at 2026 as their big chance to join the elite. But ahead of pre-season testing, immediate optimism levels are low.

It briefly looked in 2023 as if Aston Martin might become a frontrunner during Fernando Alonso’s podium spree. But they fell away and finished the ground-effect era as F1’s seventh-fastest team.

Still, by signing Newey, as well as Mercedes engine mastermind Andy Cowell and Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile, big spender Lawrence Stroll thought he was positioning Aston Martin for success following the rule changes.

Is this a brutal truth or unfair criticism from Lance Stroll?

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Already, before the car has completed a single lap, the objectives for the upcoming season are changing.

Adrian Newey and Aston Martin are already prioritising 2027

Newey’s 2026 concept won’t take its ‘final form’ until after the summer break. The designer started work in March last year, but may have been hampered by a power struggle with Cowell.

While he eventually prevailed, which is why he became team principal and Cowell took on an alternative role as chief strategy officer, the instability may have had an impact on car development.

The countdown is on — which 2026 challenger are you most excited to see? 👀

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According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Newey’s focus is now building a ‘foundation’ for success in 2027. Success may not be ‘tangible’ this year but will be ‘essential’ the following season.

Unless Newey’s completed design goes on a run of podiums in the autumn, though, it will be difficult to envisage them closing the gap.

Damon Hill’s big Aston Martin prediction is already looking unlikely

Perhaps alarm bells should have been ringing when president Koji Watanabe admitted Honda were struggling in ‘many areas’. Previously Mercedes customers, they will be the only team supplied by the Japanese manufacturers in 2026.

Subsequent reports revealed that Stroll is personally ‘bankrolling’ Honda’s development given their reluctance to ‘spend excessively’. It’s clear that the team owner will stop at nothing to succeed.

Damon Hill predicted that Newey would work ‘magic’ at Aston Martin, but he may have to wait to see his true impact.

Honda are holding their own launch next week, with Aston Martin to showcase their livery on 9 February.