Aston Martin sources have now made a staggering ‘strange’ claim about their 2025 F1 update packages

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Aston Martin have had another transitional season with expectations very much being put on next year.

The 2026 F1 regulation changes are being anticipated by every team in the paddock, but arguably by no one more than Aston Martin.

Team owner Lawrence Stroll has been building his outfit up to capitalise on next season’s changing ruleset.

Aston Martin have considered a move for George Russell and have been linked with Max Verstappen, but look to have settled on sticking with Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for 2026.

They’ve brought in Adrian Newey to work on next year’s car, Andy Cowell has taken over as team principal, and Honda will become their exclusive power unit supplier.

Newey is working hard behind the scenes, and it appears as though Aston Martin are finally on the right path with their development.

It’s been a tricky couple of years for the Silverstone-based team, with their update packages rarely having the desired impact on the track.

But journalist Michael Schmidt has heard some encouraging, if slightly puzzling, noises from inside the camp.

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

Aston Martin concentrating on ‘driveability’ rather than downforce with their 2025 F1 updates

Aston Martin have the best facilities in Formula 1 now, and that’s giving Cowell’s team a boost in their work behind the scenes.

They no longer have to share a wind tunnel with Mercedes, which is making them far more efficient than during previous seasons.

Schmidt was speaking on his Formel Schmidt YouTube channel about the work being done at Aston Martin and said: “The Aston Martin is quite strange.

“So they have stabilised, one must say. In the beginning, nothing worked at all; they were last.

“In Miami, they really came last. Then came this upgrade in Imola, which was actually the first upgrade since the golden days when Fernando Alonso made it onto the podium regularly.

“That brought an improvement. It didn’t necessarily provide more downforce.

“One of the Aston Martin people told me that the last two upgrades in Silverstone are coming one more time.

“They didn’t actually make the car faster per se, but they made it driveable, they made it more driveable.

“The driveability brings speed to the drivers, who then have more confidence in the car. That’s basically the upgrade, and it worked.”

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Adrian Newey believes Aston Martin are already playing catch-up for the 2026 F1 season

By the time the 2026 season begins, Alonso will have waited 20 years to try and add to his two drivers’ championships.

No driver in Formula 1 history has ever managed to win a championship with such a large gap between titles, but Aston Martin are expecting to be one of the front-runners next season.

Newey believes Aston Martin are already ‘playing catch-up’ compared to some of their rivals for next year.

He only started work at Aston Martin in March, having managed to shorten his gardening leave after his Red Bull exit.

However, that still means he was on the back foot compared to the likes of Williams, who committed virtually all of their resources to 2026 at the start of January.

Jolyon Palmer predicts Alonso’s tone over the team radio to change once he starts driving a Newey-designed car, but whether that’s a positive or negative tonal shift is something nobody will know until testing starts next year.