The design guru, the legend, the man who can see air, and yet Bernie Collins is a bit perplexed about Adrian Newey missing the small holes on the rear diffusers of Mercedes and Ferrari that are, reportedly, designed to boost diffuser performance and overall downforce.<\/p>\n
However, the former Aston Martin strategist believes it is a trick that Newey won\u2019t let slide by for long.<\/p>\n
Has Adrian Newey missed a trick?<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Last week at the Circuit de Catalunya, the teams had their first up-close look at their rivals\u2019 all-new F1 cars as the overbody air machinery with its active aerodynamics took to the track.<\/p>\n The teams had three days to run during the five-day test with the hotly anticipated Adrian Newey Aston Martin<\/a> AMR26 the very last car to break covers as it joined the action late on Thursday.<\/p>\n Pundits and rivals were quick to note the differences between the Newey-designed creation and the rest of the field.<\/p>\n Running a double-pushrod suspension with 2005 McLaren-esque horns, PlanetF1.com technical editor Matt Somerfield noted areas such as the nose, sidepods and engine cover were different to the rest of the grid.<\/p>\n He labelled the car a \u201cmasterclass\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n More analysis of the Adrian Newey Aston Martin AMR26<\/p>\n Adrian Newey\u2019s Aston Martin AMR26 hailed as \u2018on another level\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n Is Adrian Newey going where others dare not with Aston Martin AMR26 suspension?<\/a><\/p>\n However, Somerfield declared, \u201cthe level of detail present on the AMR26 does suggest that what we\u2019re looking at is closer to the package it will run in Albert Park than some of its rivals.\u201d<\/p>\n But one thing Aston Martin\u2019s AMR26 did not feature a hole in the diffuser (often termed a mouse hole) like those on the Mercedes W17 and Ferrari\u2019s SF-26.<\/p>\n The intent behind the hole is to enhance airflow and improve downforce by\u00a0allowing some airflow from the external surfaces to switch to the diffuser\u2019s inner wall, improving diffuser flow and downforce.<\/p>\n Collins was surprised not to see such a hole, or something like it, on the Aston Martin AMR26.<\/p>\n \u201cThose designers will be spending time at the factory, as we are, going through all of the images that they can acquire from all of the other cars, trying to figure out what\u2019s going on,\u201d she told Sky\u2019s F1 Show.<\/p>\n \u201cSo even if he\u2019s not got it on that car, they will definitely be looking over it to see if it could bring something additional.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I can\u2019t imagine that Adrian would have missed it.\u201d<\/p>\n Her fellow pundit Craig Slater revealed rival teams were already eyeing up the Aston Martin after its two days on track, the car notably catching Mercedes\u2019 attentions.<\/p>\n \u201cSomeone from Mercedes, an engineer, described it to me as adventurous as a car, which I thought was a lovely word, as though it\u2019s an epic story in itself.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is multi-layered, multi-chaptered and has a kind of narrative of its own, which I think is a lovely word to use.\u201d<\/p>\n For now, though, Aston Martin is just focusing on itself with the team still adjusting to lift under Newey\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n After joining Aston Martin last year as managing technical partner, Newey was announced as team boss for 2026.<\/p>\n \u201cA couple of days ago someone at the factory said to me that it\u2019s been a culture shock working with Newey, the demands and the different way of doing things,\u201d said Slater.<\/p>\n \u201cBut they are adjusting, he\u2019ll make them adjust and it\u2019s a long season isn\u2019t it. It\u2019s a rules set that will extend so they might be one of the teams that improves.\u201d<\/p>\n The AMR26 will be back on track in Bahrain on 11 February for the start of the first official pre-season test, a three-day outing before a second test in Bahrain and then it is on to Melbourne for the start of the new season.<\/p>\n The cars will turn their first laps in anger in FP1 on Friday 6 March.<\/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