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Adrian Newey’s pre-season prediction for Aston Martin has aged terribly, after he was reported to have been ‘convinced’ that the AMR26 would have the best chassis on the grid after eight rounds of racing.
The Silverstone-based outfit headed into the 2026 F1 campaign with some of the biggest expectations on the grid looming over them, thanks to Lawrence Stroll’s decision to give aerodynamic genius Adrian Newey free rein over the team last year.
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However, the current season has fallen well short of those expectations, with Aston Martin currently sitting in P10 in the constructors’ championship with just one point to their name. It’s now looking very likely that Newey will endure his first podium-less season since 1989.
Turmoil has since unravelled within Aston Martin behind the scenes, with F1 pundit Ralf Schumacher previously detailing a “massive row” that he had heard about happening at the British constructor as the F1 team continues to endure a disastrous campaign.
What’s more, the squad are not taking a normal route in development to get themselves back into contention. Instead of drip-feeding the AMR26 small updates, Newey is putting all of his eggs into one basket and introducing a brand-new ‘B-spec’ chassis that is anticipated to land before the grid breaks up for summer after the Hungarian Grand Prix later this month.
- READ MORE: F1 paddock insiders think ‘fussy’ Adrian Newey is refusing to let Aston Martin upgrade their car
Adrian Newey’s pre-season chassis prediction has aged terribly
Not only did fans and the rest of the grid have high expectations for Aston Martin this season, but so did Newey. After the AMR26’s issues were exposed during pre-season testing, the 67-year-old issued a bold statement that gave a lot of Aston Martin’s faithful some hope.
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According to a report from a Spanish publication, Newey was “convinced” that the AMR26 would house “the best chassis on the grid” by the eighth round of the season at the very latest. The recent Austrian GP marked the end of that timeline, and they are still languishing.
While the AMR26’s vibration issues with Honda’s 2026-spec engine have seemingly been stamped out, the car remains a long way away from the FIA’s minimum weight figure, which continues to hamstring Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll on a weekly basis.
On top of that, a bold design philosophy has thrown up more issues than they initially anticipated, with Aston Martin’s late start to development meaning that Newey’s concept was unable to be tested in-depth before its unveiling at the Barcelona shakedown.
Fans can still hold out hope for the ‘B-spec’ chassis that is expected to arrive later this month, but anything short of a car that is capable of competing for points week-in week-out is likely to be deemed a failure in the eyes of those who hold Newey in such high regard.
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