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Adrian Newey has only attended one race since becoming the Aston Martin team principal at the start of 2026. With Aston unquestionably the biggest underachievers of the year, Newey’s absence has been magnified.
Since his appearance at the season opener in Australia, Newey has preferred to work from the UK. Aston Martin’s reliability has improved but their performance remains largely the same, effectively leaving them in a world championship against Cadillac.
Neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll has escaped Q1 in the six qualifying sessions that have taken place this year. With Newey removing himself from the spotlight, it has been left to trackside engineering director Mike Krack, as well as Honda personnel, to answer questions about the team’s crisis.
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Some Aston Martin staff think Adrian Newey ‘went too far’ with his damning comments about Honda
Newey has, for most of his career, viewed media work as an unnecessary distraction. He is used to working alongside dominant team principal figures like Christian Horner, Ron Dennis and Frank Williams, who were happy to be the public face of the team.
Newey’s appearance in the team principals’ press conference at the Australian GP was unusual, then, but it was his candour that was most surprising.
He said the team had a ‘very significant’ engine problem, with the vibrations from the Honda power unit forcing them to impose mileage limits. The mechanics were ‘on their knees’ after repeated rebuilds.
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Newey also claimed that Honda had revamped their engine division with a far less experienced workforce, something Aston Martin only discovered in November 2025.
According to AutoNocion, some of Newey’s Aston Martin colleagues felt he ‘went too far’ in this ‘overly honest’ press conference. This may be part of the reason why he hasn’t appeared in such a setting since, with the more diplomatic Krack picking up the microphone instead.
Why was Adrian Newey so critical of Honda?
One theory at Aston Martin is that Newey was trying to ‘relieve himself of pressure’ by putting all of the onus on Honda to improve.
Indeed, Newey claimed that Aston Martin had the fifth-best chassis in F1, a claim that also generated internal scepticism.
Four races into the season, it’s clear that Aston’s car is flawed, as well as their engine, though there won’t be a major upgrade until after the summer break.
Aston Martin are struggling in the corners as well as on the straights, and that’s not just because of their reduced entry speeds.
Newey’s radical design choices stunned the paddock during pre-season testing, but the notion that Aston Martin would automatically be Q3 contenders if Honda’s engine was competitive appears fanciful.
The 67-year-old is expected to return to a more conventional role once Aston Martin appoint a new team principal, with former Red Bull colleague Jonathan Wheatley the favourite.
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