Few engineers, either within or outside of Formula 1, have a bigger reputation than that of Adrian Newey. Having spent just over fourth months working at Aston Martin, Newey is deep into his development plans for 2026.
The 66-year-old has explained why next year could become an extremely unpredictable campaign.
Newey explains “slightly scary” 2026 regulations
Whenever a new set of regulations arrive to F1, there are inevitable repercussions for the pecking order.
New aerodynamic and engine regulations essentially reset the grid, forcing teams to adapt and innovate with new concepts.
The 2022 regulations almost instantly threw a spanner in the works, as teams battled with ‘porpoising’ and bouncing in pre-season testing.
Indeed, this phenomenon was a challenge that persisted for the first year of the ground-effect regulations.
One of the teams who did not struggle with porpoising was Red Bull, who were largely on top of this problem.
This was partly thanks to Adrian Newey, who had experience with bouncing from previous projects in Formula 1.
Of course, every regulation change offers a different challenge, and 2026 represents a radical change.
Engine development will also be integral, particularly as two new engine manufacturers – Audi and Red Bull Powertrains – enter the mix.
For Aston Martin, their hopes are pinned on Honda delivering a top power unit in 2026.
The Japanese manufacturer was slightly late to commit to the 2026 regulations – officially signing their agreement with Aston at the beginning of 2023.
In combination with essentially brand new cars, this creates an element of uncertainty ahead of next year.
Adrian Newey believes there will be plenty of variation across the field:
“There’s enough flexibility in the regulations, and I’m sure people will come up with different solutions.
“Some of those will be dropped over the first two or three years as teams start to converge.
“The other aspect of this is that, for the first time I can remember, we’ve got both the chassis regulations and power unit regulations changing at the same time.
“This is… interesting… and slightly scary. Both the new aerodynamic rules and the PU regulations present opportunities.
“I would expect to see a range of aero solutions and there could be variation in PU (power unit) performance across the grid to begin with.”
Aston Martin focused on new regulations
The British GP saw Aston Martin introduce their final major update package of the season.
A few other small pieces should arrive in the next few rounds – most likely in Spa – to conclude the AMR25’s development.
However, these components were already designed and approved several months ago. Now it is only a matter of production.
In terms of Aston’s wind tunnel hours, the Silverstone factory are already dedicating all of their time towards 2026.
To some extent, they can be satisfied with their recovery this year. For the first time in years, the team’s mid-season updates have proven effective.
Critically, their upgrades to the AMR25 in Imola and Silverstone were corroborated and checked in their new wind tunnel.
This has given Aston Martin a chance to validate their latest development tools.
As a result, Newey and his technical personnel can be more confident heading into next season.
Main photo: Zak Mauger/LAT Images (Aston Martin media gallery)
