After more than a decade of competing against each other, Fernando Alonso and Adrian Newey are joining forces. Newey will begin work at Aston Martin at the beginning of march, playing an instrumental role in 2026 development.
Alongside other marquee signings like Andy Cowell and Enrico Cardile, the 66-year-old will be central to Aston Martin’s development plans.
Of course, with the 2025 season just weeks away, Newey’s chances of impacting the AMR25 are also being discussed.
According to Fernando Alonso, it is inevitable that Adrian Newey will be transformative to the team’s success,
Alonso reveals Aston Martin outlook for 2025/26
Like many teams in the midfield, Aston Martin have every reason to prioritise the 2026 regulations.
The Silverstone-based outfit are unlikely to fight at the front this season, meaning that putting more resources towards 2026 is a relatively easy decision.
Red Bull’s advantage from the beginning of 2022 – as rivals paid the price for faulty concepts – gave them a cushion for several years.
Because of this, Aston Martin see the upcoming generation of cars as a chance to establish a strong foundation.
Their decline to 5th in the Championship, though obviously not positive, also gives them more wind tunnel hours to play with – at least compared to the top teams.
In combination with their Honda partnership and new infrastructure, these are exciting times for Aston Martin.
However, Fernando Alonso reveals that staying grounded is important – both for 2025 and beyond:
“We will see, we have to be cautious,” he told AS.
“Last year we suffered, especially at the end of the season, and it has only been three months since Abu Dhabi. We have done everything we could, we have changed 95% of the aerodynamics of the car.
“Hopefully that will give us the results we want, but everyone does a good job in winter and it will be very tight.
“Last year there were many teams within half a second and I do not expect anything different, we will have to get all the decisions right.”
High hopes for Adrian Newey
On the topic of Adrian Newey, the Double World Champion expressed full confidence about the 66-year-old’s influence:
“Adrian Newey will always have more impact than any driver. Drivers come and go, the 20 of us here try to drive well – and have achieved things before reaching F1.
“I don’t know what Hamilton will contribute or add to Ferrari, it will surely be less than what a designer can contribute.”
As it stands, the next twelve months could be a transitional year for Aston Martin.
Considering that Haas and Alpine finished 2024 with faster cars, it would be an achievement for Aston to begin 2025 as the 5th-fastest team.
Making any significant inroads on the top four teams – in the context of their last eighteen months of development – is extremely unlikely.
Still, it is important that Aston Martin don’t sink any further this year – even if 2026 is the priority.
On paper, there are no longer any limitations preventing the British team from climbing the field.
However, integrating Adrian Newey and their other senior signings in such a short time period will be a difficult task.
