Adrian Newey says that Aston Martin‘s 2026 Formula 1 car features design elements “that haven’t necessarily been done before”, though the designer stopped short of definitively labelling the AMR26 as an aggressive interpretation of the new regulations.
The eagerly anticipated car, the first Newey has designed for Aston, finally broke cover on the penultimate day of last week’s Barcelona shakedown, emerging in an all-black livery with distinctive nose, sidepod and engine cover designs that immediately caught the paddock’s attention.
The AMR26 appeared to sport unique sidepod and engine cover designs compared to rivals.
“The direction we’ve taken could certainly be interpreted as aggressive,” Newey said when asked about the team’s design philosophy in an interview published by Aston Martin on Tuesday.
“It’s got quite a few features that haven’t necessarily been done before. Does that make it aggressive? Possibly. Possibly not.”
However, F1’s most celebrated designer admitted that even he isn’t certain whether Aston Martin has struck upon the correct approach for the radically overhauled 2026 rulebook.
“In truth, with a completely new set of regulations, nobody is ever sure what the right philosophy is,” Newey explained. “We certainly aren’t sure what the best interpretation of the regulations is and therefore the best philosophy to follow.
“Because of our compressed timescale, we decided on a particular direction and that’s the one we’ve pursued. Whether that proves to be the right one or not, only time will tell.”
Newey paid close attention to his car during the Barcelona test
Aston Martin
That compressed timescale proved particularly challenging for Aston Martin, with 2026 marking the first time in F1 history that power unit and chassis regulations have changed simultaneously.
The team didn’t get a model into its wind tunnel until mid-April, approximately four months behind its rivals.
“Most, if not all of our rivals would have had a model in the wind tunnel from the moment the 2026 aero testing ban ended at the beginning of January last year,” Newey said.
“That put us on the back foot by about four months, which has meant a very, very compressed research and design cycle.”
The delay explains why the AMR26 only appeared on the final two days of the Barcelona shakedown, with Newey acknowledging the car “only came together at the last minute”.
Despite the setbacks, Newey remains optimistic about the car’s development potential.
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“We’ve attempted to build something that we hope will have quite a lot of development potential,” he said.
“What you want to try to avoid is a car that comes out quite optimised within its window but lacks a lot of development potential. We’ve tried to do the opposite.”
The team’s new wind tunnel, which Newey described as “probably the best wind tunnel in the world for Formula 1 application”, should prove crucial to that development race.
“Aerodynamics is the biggest single performance differentiator in Formula 1,” Newey noted. “Our principal research tool for that is the wind tunnel. It’s absolutely invaluable, and we are now reaping the rewards from it.”
As for whether the AMR26 will be competitive straight away in Melbourne, Newey was measured in his response, emphasising the importance of keeping “an open mind” as the season progresses.
“The AMR26 that races in Melbourne is going to be very different to the one people saw at the Barcelona shakedown, and the AMR26 that we finish the season with in Abu Dhabi is going to be very different to the one that we start the season with,” he said.
