Adrian Newey is already causing ‘internal frustration’ within Aston Martin due to Honda relationship

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Things are not going well for Aston Martin and Adrian Newey at the start of the 2026 Formula 1 season.

The Australian Grand Prix was always going to be a struggle for Aston Martin, but it speaks volumes about how badly they’ve started this year that they exceeded expectations during Sunday’s race.

Lance Stroll was a Not Classified finisher, completing 15 fewer laps than race winner George Russell, while Fernando Alonso managed to retire from the race twice as he gathered as much data as possible.

Higher or lower: Aston Martin will complete 20 laps in the Chinese Grand Prix before their first retirement

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Adrian Newey was clear before the race weekend started that Aston Martin and Honda were facing issues that were going to take plenty of time to resolve.

However, his comments that Aston Martin have the ‘fifth-best chassis’ suggest the finger is firmly being pointed away from the work he and his team have done in preparation for this season.

It took many people by surprise when Newey was confirmed as Aston Martin’s team principal last year, and so far, it’s proving not to be the best decision that Lawrence Stroll has made as executive chairman.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Aston Martin F1 team principal Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey causing ‘internal frustration’ at Aston Martin during the 2026 F1 season

A report from ESPN has shared more information about what’s going on behind the scenes at Aston Martin this year.

Aston Martin face a battery shortage, and while they believe that they can salvage one of the two batteries that failed in Australia due to a communications issue, teams are only expected to use four across an entire season.

This leaves Aston Martin subject to ongoing penalties across the campaign if they suffer any more failures, something that Honda know they need to resolve quickly.

It’s believed that Newey is ‘pushing hard for Honda to improve behind the scenes’, however, his ‘cajoling’ is now seen to be creating ‘internal frustration’ within the team.

Have Aston Martin already ‘completely ruined’ their relationship with Honda?

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It was telling that Honda chief Koji Watanabe and Newey appeared alongside each other during last Thursday’s press conference in Melbourne, but that certain topics hadn’t even been discussed before they faced the media.

Former team principal Andy Cowell has been stationed in Japan to help Honda resolve their issues, but there isn’t a quick fix for the problems that they’re currently facing.

READ MORE: All to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Adrian Newey admits Australian Grand Prix retirement for Fernando Alonso was to ‘preserve components’

When a brand new team in the form of Cadillac outperforms you on their debut, then alarm bells have to be ringing.

Alonso outqualified Sergio Perez and Valtteri Bottas, and briefly raced into P10 on the opening lap in Australia, but at least both Cadillac drivers managed to set a timed lap on Saturday, unlike Lance Stroll.

Perez was the final classified finisher, coming home three laps behind Russell, but he completed 63 kilometres more than Stroll.

Reflecting on the first race weekend of the season in his official post-Grand Prix debrief, Newey said: “Today was primarily an opportunity to learn more about the AMR26.

“Both cars took the start and, when it became clear we could not compete for points, we chose to pit and check the cars over.

“The team then asked Fernando to retire the car to preserve components. The data and learnings from this weekend will help us as we go into the next event.”