{"id":837597,"date":"2026-08-01T10:47:09","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T10:47:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/837597\/"},"modified":"2026-08-01T10:47:09","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T10:47:09","slug":"eye-opening-adrian-newey-comment-triggers-fernando-alonso-response","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/837597\/","title":{"rendered":"Eye-opening Adrian Newey comment triggers Fernando Alonso response"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fernando Alonso<\/a> has responded to Adrian Newey\u2019s claim that Aston Martin<\/a> has not listened enough to its drivers in the past, admitting \u201cdata was the winner\u201d previously.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin\u2019s recovery from a poor start to the F1 2026 season stepped up at last weekend\u2019s Hungarian Grand Prix, where the team introduced a major upgrade package.<\/p>\n

Fernando Alonso: Adrian Newey \u2018listens to both sides\u2019 in data vs driver feedback debate<\/p>\n

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a>\u00a0for news you can trust<\/p>\n

The new-look AMR26 car allowed Alonso to reach Q2 for the first time this season.<\/p>\n

The arrival of Aston Martin\u2019s long-awaited upgrade came weeks after Newey admitted that the team has \u201cbeen guilty of not spending enough time\u201d with Alonso, teammate Lance Stroll and third driver Jak Crawford.<\/p>\n

He told PlanetF1.com and other select media: \u201cWhilst it might not seem like it, we are very much listening to their comments and trying to act upon it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people don\u2019t feel as if they\u2019re being heard then they of course get very frustrated; it\u2019s human reactions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Go deeper: How to see air like Adrian Newey<\/p>\n

F1 aerodynamics: How to see air like Adrian Newey | The Tech Check Up<\/a><\/p>\n

Can Adrian Newey really see air?<\/a><\/p>\n

Alonso has claimed that Newey\u2019s comments were related to the previous technical regime at Aston Martin, insisting that the current team principal combines data with driver feedback.<\/p>\n

Alonso told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets: \u201d I think to Adrian\u2019s comments were more about the past.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think in the past it\u2019s true that we sometimes had different opinions during the race weekends in terms of the feeling and weaknesses of the car.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we were racing with other cars, what we felt behind the wheel, and sometimes when you go back to the factory and see the data, you discover things and misbehaviour on the aero that maybe were pointing the direction of the car in two different ways.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the data was the winner in those debates.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Adrian is the type of designer who listens to both sides: data, for sure, but also what the drivers feel.<\/p>\n

\u201cFormula 1 is a very complex sport, probably, and very dynamic. It changes every lap.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou never have the same fuel load, you never have the same tyre age, you never have the same wind conditions, whether you are following a car or whether you are alone on track.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many different things that can affect the balance of the car. That\u2019s why data is not 100 per cent the truth.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you need to combine both things and Adrian has the best experience in the world to design a car and to develop a car.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we are on a good path.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aston Martin\u2019s chassis upgrade in Hungary will be followed by an update to the Honda power unit, which will make its race debut at the Dutch Grand Prix later this month.<\/p>\n

The upgraded Honda engine took to the track for the first time in a filming day at the Hungaroring on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/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

Read next: Adrian Newey holds McLaren MCL40 inspection at Hungarian Grand Prix<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Fernando Alonso has responded to Adrian Newey\u2019s claim that Aston Martin has not listened enough to its drivers…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":837598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2074,2495,64,63,817,845,813,816,818,44,17165,85],"class_list":["post-837597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-adrian-newey","tag-aston-martin","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-news","tag-popular","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837597","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=837597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/837597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/837598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=837597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=837597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=837597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}