Ted Kravitz says Adrian Newey ‘has a plan’ to fix Aston Martin after poor Bahrain test showing

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Aston Martin suffered three difficult days at the Bahrain Formula 1 Test as they continue to struggle heading into the 2026 season.

This year, there have been plenty of changes at the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team, but in the early stages of 2026, it does not seem the changes have worked.

The Bahrain Test was Aston Martin’s first real opportunity to shakedown the new AMR26 after missing the majority of the Barcelona Test due to development delays. However, technical issues slowed Aston Martin down on the opening day at Bahrain.

One of the major changes that Aston Martin have made is with their engine supplier. After spending five years with the Mercedes power unit in the back of their car, Aston Martin have switched to the Honda power unit for this season, a move that many believe is the cause of their early issues.

In terms of personnel for the 2026 season, the team kept the same driver line-up of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, with Adrian Newey causing much excitement behind the scenes as he took over the role of Team Principal.

Mercedes set the pace on Day 3 in Bahrain, but McLaren logged some serious mileage – Should Aston Martin and Cadillac be worried?

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Adrian Newey will get Aston Martin ‘out of this mess’

With Newey on board, it was expected that Aston Martin would jump up the order and at least have a competitive car for the 2026 Formula 1 season.

However, the Silverstone-based team are in ‘a bit of a hole’, with every part of the car being credited as reasons why the AMR26 is struggling during testing.

But according to Sky Sports Formula 1 Reporter, Ted Kravitz, Newey gave a ‘really direct and positive’ speech to the team about how he ‘has a plan’.

During ‘Ted’s Testing Notebook‘, Kravitz said, “Adrian Newey is here, we have not seen him, he has been keeping very quiet in the back of the garage, and in the engineering office.

“He held a big debrief meeting the other day, and was apparently really direct and positive to everybody. The team are saying he said, ‘Right, I know this is not working at the moment, it is partly the Honda engine, it is a bit of the gearbox, it is a bit of aero, it is a bit of tyres, it is a bit of everything’.

“Adrian Newey was being very positive in terms of this is how I am going to get us out of this mess. Because it is a bit of a hole that Aston Martin are in.

“Aston Martin might be behind Audi and just ahead of Cadillac in tenth place in the pecking order at the moment. But Newey has a plan!”

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

Anger behind the scenes at the Aston Martin Formula 1 Team

After a difficult testing period across the Barcelona and Bahrain Formula 1 Tests, there have reportedly been explosive behind-the-scenes discussions.

Although Aston Martin had already played down all expectations ahead of this season, team owner Lawrence Stroll did not expect the year to start this poorly.

There have been rumours in the Formula 1 paddock that Stroll gave the Aston Martin engineers ‘a real dressing-down’ after their woes were made obvious at the Bahrain Test.

With another three-day test taking place at the Bahrain International Circuit next week, there are hopes that a solution will be found for Aston Martin.