Aston Martin F1 staff must stick to the truth or Newey will catch them out, says Alonso

Fernando Alonso says Adrian Newey‘s presence in the Aston Martin garage in Monaco elevated the team’s performance purely by him just being there.

Newey started working at the Silverstone-based team in March, having agreed to join from Red Bull during the past year.

The design guru had not attended any races since he began his spell at Aston Martin, and Monaco was his first visit to supervise how the squad worked on track.

Although Newey’s first race weekend with Aston was mainly focused on observation, he was present in the garage, the pitlane and engineering meetings, closely observing the team’s operations and providing immediate insights.

Alonso described Newey’s presence as a boost for the team, making its staff step up with nowhere to hide.

“It was fantastic,” Alonso said ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. “I think the way he sees things on the car, even statically in the pitlane or at the grid, also in the garage, spotting some things that we could have done better or do better in the future.

“But also, yes, his presence in the meeting room is always special. And I think, not intimidating, but the level of the team was higher thanks to his presence because everyone was more focused, more into the details of the car.

“People that were talking in the meeting knew that they could not say anything too far from the truth because he will spot it.

“So, I think that was great to witness, and I hope next year with more races that he will come, we will keep learning from him and getting better as a team.”

Newey’s current focus is on the 2026 car, with which Aston is hoping to be fighting at the front of the field thanks to the new regulations coming into play.

Aston has endured a difficult first part of the season, having scored only eight points in the first eight races. Alonso is still point-less after yet more bad luck in the previous race in Monaco.

Although the team’s development focus has mostly been switched to next year, it has still recently introduced some updates to the current car.

Alonso recognised the importance of trying to take a step forward this year, saying it will help Aston gain confidence about its ability to make progress.

“I think the focus is on 2026,” the Spaniard added. “But in order to be confident and strong in ’26, you have to build the momentum also in ’25, and you have to deliver some parts on track that are making the car faster as well in ’25.

“And that will, I think, give some confidence to the team as well, back in Silverstone and also in our tools to make sure that everything that we are developing in ’26, it makes sense, because we go on track and it delivers the expectations.

“So, yeah, I think there is a little bit of work still on ’25, but the main focus or the hopes are in ’26. We understand the situation. We understand where we are in 2025, and whatever we bring to the track will just be a minimum change in terms of positions and finishing order.

“I think the biggest step in that regard can only happen in ’26, where all the hopes are.”

Alonso’s future

Two-time world champion Alonso has a long-term contract with Aston, but at 43 years of age, the Spaniard’s future remains uncertain.

Alonso has said in the past that his contact with the team “is much longer than my racing career”, suggesting the decision to stop racing will be up to him.

The Spanish driver admitted the performance of next year’s car will be an important factor in how long he stays in Formula 1, but he insisted it will not be the only consideration, as he wants to be fully certain that his time in grand prix racing is up before making a decision.