{"id":483544,"date":"2026-02-16T11:16:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:16:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483544\/"},"modified":"2026-02-16T11:16:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-16T11:16:11","slug":"newey-hasnt-forgotten-how-to-design-an-f1-car","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/483544\/","title":{"rendered":"Newey hasn’t forgotten how to design an F1 car"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fernando Alonso<\/a> has reiterated his utmost confidence in Aston Martin team boss Adrian Newey, claiming it\u2019s not like he\u2019s \u2018forgotten\u2019 how to design a Formula 1 car despite a difficult pre-season.<\/p>\n

F1 is introducing widespread regulation changes this year, meaning the pecking order is largely unknown, but current signs point towards Aston Martin being comfortably behind.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s because it\u2019s been hit with problem after problem in preparation for 2026: it all started with the wind tunnel programme starting four months late in mid-April 2025<\/a>. This set the Silverstone outfit significantly behind, and at the first collective shakedown of the year in Barcelona, it didn\u2019t hit the track until day four, meaning it completed less mileage than others.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Aston was also low on mileage at last week\u2019s Bahrain test, as on day one a power unit problem caused Lance Stroll<\/a> to complete just 36 laps, before the squad also missed much of day three after a mechanical issue. Alonso had a better day two with 98 laps, but he set the second slowest lap and this all caused Stroll to claim \u201cwe\u2019re four seconds off\u201d in an extremely downbeat interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The problem is heightened by Aston having entered the new rules with great expectations: it became a Honda works\u2019 outfit and had F1 legend Newey design the car after joining in early 2025. But Alonso is not overly fazed by the current situation especially because of his boss, who has 12 title-winning cars on his CV, as the Spaniard said \u201cyeah\u201d when asked if his confidence in the team remains.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cEspecially on the chassis side,\u201d the world champion added. \u201cThe power unit, it’s a little bit more difficult because we don’t have good understanding yet on the regulations and what is needed.<\/p>\n

\"Fernando <\/p>\n

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing<\/p>\n

Photo by: Guido De Bortoli \/ LAT Images via Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cBut on the chassis side, there is no question mark on that. After 30-plus years of Adrian dominating the sport, it’s not that he will forget everything in one year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don’t know where we are now in terms of chassis and grip level, but even if we are not at 100 now, we will be at 100 soon because we will fix any problem on the power unit. We need to give time and understand where we are and, if we are behind, get better as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The impact of Newey joining Aston has been felt across the team according to ambassador Pedro de la Rosa<\/a>, who was particularly impressed with the Briton\u2019s response to Bahrain testing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are the same people, we are the same; it’s just the fact that since Adrian has arrived, his leadership is unquestionable,\u201d said the ex-F1 driver on day three of testing.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the biggest difference. I felt it, for example, yesterday, after a very difficult day testing here in Bahrain, he spoke on the technical debrief, and his leadership is so strong that all the team knows exactly what they have to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is very different from previous years, where everyone could have their own theory about things. Adrian is very clear what has to be done, and no one raises their hand to question him.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Pedro <\/p>\n

Pedro de la Rosa of Spain, Aston Martin F1 Team<\/p>\n

Photo by: Zak Mauger \/ Motorsport Images<\/p>\n

\u201cTherefore, you have this massive amount of resources working in one single direction. I know it might not sound convincing to you, but believe me, sitting there and listening to this moment was very inspiring for all of us. Especially when things go wrong. When things go right, we don’t need a leader. It’s when things go wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n

De la Rosa\u2019s belief in Newey is so strong that he doesn\u2019t believe it’s a panic station just yet for Aston Martin\u00a0\u2013 with him confident it can turn things around.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it’s a turning point, having Adrian in the team,\u201d added de la Rosa. \u201cWe are not happy, let’s be honest. No one is happy when you are second slower than what you were expecting. But it’s true as well to say that no one is worried. It’s different. We are not happy, but we are not like, \u2018Oh, this is it, no, no way\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

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– The Autosport.com Team<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fernando Alonso has reiterated his utmost confidence in Aston Martin team boss Adrian Newey, claiming it\u2019s not like…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":483545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[245044,8541,64,63,239802,240338,817,845,813,816,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-483544","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-alonso-newey-hasnt-forgotten-how-to-design-an-f1-car","9":"tag-aston-martin-racing","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-bahrain-international-circuit","13":"tag-bahrain-pre-season-testing","14":"tag-f1","15":"tag-fernando-alonso","16":"tag-formula-1","17":"tag-formula1","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/483545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}