![\"Adrian](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/293d1730ab17e83234327352d8f35276.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\nIt might seem strange that Formula 1 teams are unveiling their new liveries after the first collective test of the season, but that is what 2026 has brought with its all new regulations.<\/p>\n
This year there are changes to both the car chassis and power unit, in what is arguably the biggest rules overhaul in F1 history – so more pre-season dates were added to help squads prepare.<\/p>\n
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It started with a five-day private shakedown in Barcelona (26-30 January), before two upcoming sessions in Bahrain (11-13 and 18-20 February) ahead of the Melbourne opener in March.<\/p>\n
Although the Barcelona shakedown was private, there were still pictures to come from it and some teams ran special testing liveries having not yet launched their official look for the year.<\/p>\n
One of those was Aston Martin, which is launching its AMR26 on Monday, so here is a look at the Silverstone squad and what kind of shape it is in as it enters the campaign.<\/p>\n
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What\u2019s new at Aston Martin?<\/p>\n
There is quite a lot that\u2019s new at the Aston Martin F1 team, with the biggest change concerning the team principal role. For the first time in his storied, decades-long career, legendary car designer Adrian Newey will be the leader of a team after a management restructuring at the British marque for 2026.<\/p>\n
Adrian Newey<\/p>\n
Adrian Newey<\/p>\n
It has seen several engineers depart the organisation plus erstwhile boss Andy Cowell move into a chief strategy officer role, after insiders suggested that he and Newey both disagreed on team operations and the direction of 2026 development.<\/p>\n
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Newey ultimately won the power battle and it was no surprise, because his hiring for March 2025 was a major coup and his initial role was managing technical partner with the Briton\u2019s sole focus being to lead development of the AMR26.<\/p>\n
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And when it finally rolled out for the Barcelona shakedown, on the fourth day of the test<\/a>, the Aston had Newey\u2019s fingerprints written all over it from the unique endplate and sidepod design to the front suspension package with a radical inclination of the upper wishbone.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cAdrian is just a creative designer,\u201d said Williams<\/a> boss James Vowles of the AMR26. \u201cIt\u2019s really impressive what he\u2019s done with wishbones in places that I don\u2019t think they should be. But he\u2019s done them.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll see it in our front wishbone. It\u2019s slightly different, but where Adrian\u2019s gone is very Adrian. Very impressive, very creative, very extreme. I wouldn\u2019t want to be the designer for that one. Let\u2019s put it that way.\u201d<\/p>\n But a Newey-designed car, which he hopes will add to the 12 other championship winners he\u2019s had a hand in, isn\u2019t all that\u2019s new: there\u2019s also a Honda engine after 16 years of the Silverstone-based squad being a Mercedes<\/a> customer.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Honda power unit Honda power unit<\/p>\n This comes after six successful years of the Japanese marque powering Red Bull – alongside its sister outfit Toro Rosso\/Racing Bulls<\/a> – to four drivers\u2019 championships with Max Verstappen<\/a>, plus two constructors\u2019 titles. The reason for Honda changing teams is because it actually initially planned to leave F1 at the end of 2021, but then it signed a paid deal with the Austrian outfit to continue providing technical support – with Red Bull\u2019s engines still coming out of Japan until 2025.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cWe are a customer to Honda, we pay for engines through a separate entity of Red Bull Powertrains,\u201d said Christian Horner around that time<\/a>. \u201cIt has been a great relationship and they continue to provide an excellent service that we pay for, to provide engines for the four cars.\u201d<\/p>\n The engine regulations for 2026 then started to go the way Honda wanted, however, yet by this point it was already too late: Red Bull had committed to building its own in-house power units. So in came Aston Martin and the two struck a deal.<\/p>\n It will see Newey reunited with the Japanese marque, but only time will tell if the move pays off for Aston. The squad has ditched what\u2019s considered to be the best power unit in F1, but it has also been elevated to works\u2019 team status where the engine is specifically built for that chassis rather than a collective.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n What\u2019s the biggest challenge to Aston Martin?<\/p>\n It might sound strange to say given Aston Martin finished seventh in the 2025 standings and hasn\u2019t scored a podium since the Brazilian Grand Prix at the end of 2023, but its biggest challenge is delivering on expectations.<\/p>\n Simply because Newey\u2019s reputation precedes him and when a person has won as many titles as him, then people naturally start to think that he brings automatic success. That is exactly what\u2019s happening at Aston Martin.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team in parc ferme Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin F1 Team in parc ferme<\/p>\n Cue Mercedes star George Russell<\/a>: \u201cAt the moment it does look like Red Bull, McLaren<\/a>, Ferrari<\/a> and ourselves are, let\u2019s say, the four teams that are all quite close within one another. But you can\u2019t discount what you\u2019ve seen from Aston Martin and what Adrian has done with that car.\u201d<\/p>\n So even drivers are already starting to big up Aston\u2019s chances for the year, predicting it to challenge amongst the big boys. But it isn\u2019t just because of Newey, as billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll has transformed the entire business and pumped in significant amounts of investment with a new high-tech campus being one example.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n For a long time now there\u2019s also been talk of 2026 being the team\u2019s golden opportunity to start fighting for wins, with title glory to follow in 2027. Aston also has world champion Fernando Alonso<\/a> to boast so it all looks good on the surface, but whether it can actually deliver is another matter.<\/p>\n To begin with, Newey recently revealed that the team was four months late in starting its 2026 wind tunnel programme<\/a> and there was talk of its car being overweight. On top of that, while its rivals, bar Williams, were able to start the Barcelona shakedown on time, Aston didn\u2019t appear until day four with it thus quite comfortably completing the least mileage.<\/p>\n The way it also declined from being a podium regular at the start of 2023 to firm midfield two years later shows troubles with how it can sufficiently upgrade a car, so another challenge will be to overcome that and develop at the rate in which it needs to to be a consistent front runner.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n What\u2019s the strongest asset to Aston Martin?<\/p>\n The obvious answer is Newey and who could argue that given his track record, but for the sake of originality let\u2019s go for Alonso – because he also brings a lot to the organisation. To be doing what he is doing at the age of 44 is remarkable, because the Spaniard is still on the same regular pace as drivers 20 years his junior and has shown what he can do when given the tools.<\/p>\n Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing<\/p>\n Just look at this start to 2023 with six podiums in eight grands prix, or even how he managed fifth in Hungary last year en route to a top-10 championship result. The only thing that\u2019s preventing him from achieving more success is the car, as Alonso clearly still has it and the non-driving aspects that he will bring – such as the stuff which comes with experience like feedback and input into developing a car – is also invaluable to the team.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n However, there is the obvious caveat that he\u2019s achieved such results alongside a weaker team-mate in Lance Stroll<\/a>, who has failed to finish higher than the two-time F1 champion since joining forces in 2023. So whether Alonso is performing exactly as he should be, or is in fact maximising the car, is a big question mark.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n What\u2019s the goal in F1 2026 for Aston Martin?<\/p>\n The immediate goal for Aston Martin is to return to the state it was at the start of 2023, when it was the nearest challenger to the dominant Red Bull. Life was incredible for the British squad back then, clearly delivering on the hype which comes with significant investment and as though it was ahead of its own curve in achieving success.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n But then its rivals out-developed the team throughout the season and the inevitable decline came, with just two podiums for Alonso in the final 14 grands prix of the campaign before none ever since.<\/p>\n Obviously one doesn\u2019t expect Aston to suddenly be the second-best team again, but it needs to show significant improvements and be capable of challenging last year\u2019s top four for podiums – heck, even wins before too long.<\/p>\n Because if the British marque cannot achieve that in this new era, where everything resets, then when can it?<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n Adrian Newey\u2019s extreme Aston, Red Bull, and Mercedes: Early tech trends of F1 2026 <\/a><\/p>\n![\"Honda](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/78fa2cc08b58ca2d64f63be604abcc67.jpeg\"\/)
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