Sergio Perez ‘never expected’ Aston Martin to be so slow after signing Adrian Newey

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Sergio Perez ‘really believed’ in Aston Martin after they signed Adrian Newey from Red Bull, so the team’s crisis this season has come as a major surprise.

After three races, Aston Martin are below Perez’s brand-new Cadillac team in the championship. They have already suffered five DNFs and were over 2.5 seconds off the pace in qualifying for the Japanese GP.

Aston Martin had been seen as a dark horse ahead of the 2026 regulation changes, particularly after signing some of F1’s biggest engineering names, like Newey, Andy Cowell and Enrico Cardile.

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Sergio Perez hoped Fernando Alonso would be ‘fighting for the top spots’ at Aston Martin

Speaking to Spanish broadcaster DAZN, Perez said he expected Fernando Alonso to be fighting at the front again in this year’s Aston Martin. Alonso hasn’t scored a podium since the 2023 Sao Paulo GP and the 13-year anniversary of his last win in Spain is approaching.

Perez worked with Newey for four seasons at Red Bull, winning the constructors’ championship in each of those seasons. Given the hype around them, Jolyon Palmer has called Aston Martin an ‘all-time flop’.

Perez beat Alonso to 17th place at the Japanese GP last time out, though the two-time world champion did manage to finish ahead of Valtteri Bottas in the other Cadillac.

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“The truth is that I never expected it, I was hoping that Fernando would be fighting for the top spots,” he said.

“I really believed in the project with Adrian Newey, whom I worked with at Red Bull and also with Honda. These are the surprises that the category throws at you.

“Also, fighting with Fernando race after race, at least we won’t get bored and we’ll have a good time.”

Perez raced for Aston Martin’s forerunners Racing Point (formerly known as Force India). His victory at the 2020 Sakhir GP remains their most recent triumph.

The Adrian Newey/Honda tandem used to be formidable

As noted by Damon Hill, Aston Martin expected Newey to lead them to the ‘promised land’. It may be that the team are hamstrung by Honda’s power unit.

Newey has claimed Aston Martin have the fifth-best chassis in F1, but that has been met with internal scepticism. The team principal continues to stand by his design and put pressure on the engine suppliers instead.

Red Bull thrived as Honda customers during the Perez years, giving the Mexican even more reason to be optimistic about Aston.

However, it has now emerged that Honda were already starting to struggle at the end of their Red Bull partnership, becoming increasingly reliant on low-downforce set-ups and Max Verstappen’s brilliance.