Aston Martin’s ‘best secrets’ will be hidden by Adrian Newey ahead of 2026 car launch

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Aston Martin’s 2026 Formula 1 car launch will potentially be the last one to take place out of all 11 teams.

Taking place on 9 February, only McLaren could announce their car later than Aston Martin, having not shared when that event will be taking place.

McLaren have caught fans by surprise with their launches before, but Aston Martin’s decision to reveal their car just two days before pre-season testing begins means it’s unlikely that the reigning constructors’ champions will wait around much longer.

The upcoming regulations changes in 2026 give Aston Martin and new team principal Adrian Newey a blank canvas to work on.

Newey is a design genius and initially joined Aston Martin from Red Bull as technical chief, before stepping into the team principal role as well after Andy Cowell was moved on.

Journalist Jon Noble has been speaking about the upcoming launch event and has taken a particular interest in what the Silverstone-based team are doing.

His suggestion is that out of all 11 teams in the paddock, Aston Martin will give the least away because of Newey’s expertise.

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

Adrian Newey described as the ‘absolute master’ of hiding secrets during F1 car launches

Noble was speaking on The Race F1 Podcast ahead of the start of pre-season and said: “I am most intrigued to see what Adrian Newey’s first kind of interpretation of the 2026 cars is like.

“I’m sure that car that we get to see, I think the launch is in Saudi Arabia after the Barcelona test, so I’m sure images will have leaked out because there’s no way nobody’s going to get photos of any of those cars over the Barcelona test.

“Whether that’s come from marshals with their iPhones out or team members or things leaking out from teams, so the images are going to get out.

“But I am intrigued to see what Newey’s done and the interpretation of it and how that compares to other people.

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“Although Newey is the absolute master of making sure that nothing that will be displayed on that car will be performance critical. That all the best secrets will be either hidden away so out of view or won’t feature on the car, and will be replaced with fake parts to divert attention.

Even though teams do play games, and I quite like the games they play when you kind of see what they’ve done and how they’ve done it and what they’re keeping secret, you still get a sense of the design and the concept and what’s really going on.

“Even if I think launch spec cars this year are going to be perhaps the most different that they can be between what actually appears in race one.”

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

Aston Martin getting excited about new engine partnership with Honda

Bringing in Newey, given his exceptional track record, doesn’t guarantee success for Aston Martin, but it certainly boosts their chances of being in the mix to win championships going forward.

However, many believe that one of the most important aspects of the new ruleset will be the hybrid power units.

Newey has no control over what Honda are doing, but Cowell’s engineering expertise might be essential for Aston Martin heading into this year.

Aston Martin aren’t technically a factory team after switching from Mercedes to Honda engines, but the fact that they have exclusive use of the Japanese manufacturer’s power units does give them an advantage.

Honda’s early engine reveal should also be seen as a positive, as they’re willing to show the world what they’ve done before Aston Martin have even taken to the track for pre-season testing in Barcelona and Bahrain.