Aston Martin insider identifies Adrian Newey’s key ‘characteristic’ that’s helping to improve Fernando Alonso’s car

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Adrian Newey has made an instant impact at Aston Martin since officially joining the team mid-way through the 2025 season.

One of the reasons Newey left his post at Red Bull during the 2024 season was due to a genuine desire for a new challenge after nearly two decades with the Austrian constructor, where the cars he designed went on to win six constructors’ and eight drivers’ championships.

On arrival at the Silverstone-based team, Newey noted that ‘little work’ had been done on Aston Martin’s 2026 challenger, admitting that he has been playing ‘catch-up’ ever since.

However, Fernando Alonso is optimistic about having Newey on his side. It’s the first time the 44-year-old has linked up with the design genius over the span of his 22-season F1 career, and has promised ‘something big’ is on the way from Newey.

READ MORE: All to know about Aston Martin managing technical partner Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey’s ability to come up with ‘solutions’ has been key to unlocking Aston Martin’s potential

Speaking to CHAMP1, Aston Martin ambassador and former F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa described the impact that Newey is having on the development of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll‘s cars behind the scenes, stating, “His presence, his input, and his feedback are invaluable.

“For the ’25 car, not because he’s working on the ’25 car, but because he’s working on the tools that are helping us on the ’25 car. So that is also a very important fact that Adrian is contributing.

“He’s also helping us in every area, because with Adrian, if there’s a characteristic about him that I would like to say is the fact that he sees the car as a whole.

“He’s an aerodynamicist, but he thinks very much about the suspension, about the setup, about the car as a whole and the power unit. He’s not only an aerodynamicist, you know what I mean. He’s just a guy that listens to the driver, takes notes and comes back with solutions.”

Newey was spotted studying McLaren’s car ahead of the British Grand Prix earlier in the season, as he sought inspiration from F1’s currently superior team.

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2

Fernando Alonso missed FP1 at the Hungarian Grand Prix due to a muscular injury

Alonso’s Hungarian Grand Prix weekend got off to the worst possible start as he sat out FP1 due to suffering from a muscular injury in his back. Reserve driver Felipe Drugovich jumped into his seat to gather crucial data from the first practice session for the team.

Thankfully, the injury wasn’t too serious and Alonso took the wheel of his AMR25 for FP2, where he set the fifth fastest time of the session, behind teammate Stroll in fourth. The Aston Martin pair were half a second off the benchmark set by McLaren’s Lando Norris.

The two-time world champion has already felt the benefit of Aston Martin’s newest design chief. The 2026 regulations are his priority, but it was reported that Newey helped engineers at the team to maximise the potential of Aston Martin’s new floor unit that was introduced at the British GP.

Alonso also explained how watching Newey work is ‘unlike anything’ he’s seen in F1 before. Quite the compliment from someone who holds the record for the longest career in F1, as well as the most Grand Prix entries ever.