The Aston Martin AMR26, designed under Adrian Newey, stole the spotlight after it emerged late on Day 4 during the Barcelona shakedown run.<\/p>\n
It is a car which former F1 driver turned pundit Martin Brundle expects to be \u201cpretty handy\u201d in F1 2026, though he raised some \u201cquestion marks\u201d. Brundle alleges to have been told by Newey that Honda, Aston Martin\u2019s new engine partner, are \u201chaving to play catch-up\u201d, while Brundle is waiting to see whether Newey has the right people and tools around him at Aston Martin<\/a> just yet.<\/p>\n Adrian Newey and Aston Martin \u2018question marks\u2019 raised by Brundle<\/p>\n Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for news you can trust.<\/p>\n One of the most hotly-anticipated machines designed to the new F1 2026 regulations, the Aston Martin AMR26 \u2013 the team\u2019s first car crafted under F1 icon Newey \u2013 made its delayed debut on Thursday at the Barcelona shakedown, with Lance Stroll at the wheel.<\/p>\n The buzz was palpable, as fans and media quickly began taking a closer look at this Newey-led creation. A double-pushrod suspension was among the eye-catching features.<\/p>\n PlanetF1.com technical editor Matt Somerfield also confirmed that areas such as the nose, sidepods and engine cover stood out, the AMR26 a design strikingly different to most other 2026 cars to have hit the track.<\/p>\n This has only further turbo-charged the anticipation surrounding Aston Martin and F1 2026, as Brundle laid out some of the \u201cquestion marks\u201d which he sees hanging over Newey and the AMR26.<\/p>\n Asked whether Aston Martin can challenge for podiums and wins in F1 2026, Brundle told Sky F1: \u201cWell, I hope so, for everybody\u2019s sake, and not least Fernando Alonso.<\/p>\n \u201cAdrian, his cars tend to be quite homogenous in their beautiful sort of sweeping air flow to them. You often see that with all of it, and there didn\u2019t appear to be as many bits hanging off his cars as you do see some others.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s really hard undercut on the sidepod, and we\u2019ve seen different interpretations of sidepods, front wings across the board. Unsurprising, with such different, such new regulations.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, we\u2019ve got to assume Adrian\u2019s come up with some good ideas. But, does he know enough about the Aston Martin wind tunnel, and will he get correlation? Has he got the right people around him to interpret his brilliance? That\u2019s a tall order, straight out of the box, actually.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd Adrian was saying to me that Honda, they\u2019re having to play catch-up, because they were leaving and then they came back in.<\/p>\n \u201cSo there\u2019s some question marks there, and we\u2019ll have to wait and see.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you just know that Adrian will have a vision of how to maximise these regulations, and let\u2019s hope he\u2019s done it. Let\u2019s hope that car just flies.\u201d<\/p>\n Latest F1 2026 talking points from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n Key Adrian Newey design decision emerges as Aston Martin AMR26 hits track<\/a><\/p>\n McLaren MCL40 reveals next-level aero design in Barcelona<\/a><\/p>\n After PlanetF1.com revealed last week that\u00a0Aston Martin would miss the start of testing<\/a>, Stroll rolled out onto the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in an all-black AMR26 in the final hour of Day 4.<\/p>\n He brought the day\u2019s running to an early conclusion, after\u00a0trackside marshals signalled him to stop<\/a>\u00a0over a potential electrical issue, triggering the red flag.<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso got his turn at the wheel on the fifth and final day.<\/p>\n Aston Martin may have been late to the party, but Brundle argued this to be of no concern.<\/p>\n \u201cHe\u2019s also legendary for not wanting to sign things off,\u201d Brundle said of Newey. \u201cSo when the car was late, it didn\u2019t surprise me at all, to be honest.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause Adrian is always, \u2018No, you don\u2019t need to\u2026\u2019 The long lead times, chassis, gearboxes, radiators, and all that sort of thing. Adrian will push that, and he always has done, to the absolute limit, because he wants the maximum amount of time of development on those pieces and understanding.<\/p>\n \u201cHe doesn\u2019t have that control function of a Christian Horner or a Patrick Head or whatever these days. He\u2019s in charge of all of that.<\/p>\n \u201cBut you know, if it absolutely takes off, then as ever, you can say he got it absolutely right. He\u2019s waited until the last moment before having to commit.<\/p>\n \u201cBut, we\u2019ll see. We don\u2019t know. I\u2019m going to assume that that car will be pretty handy through the year.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n