Fernando Alonso stated that Aston Martin is on the right track to overcome the difficult 2026 Formula 1 season and explained Adrian Newey’s statements about the lack of consultation with drivers during car development. Questioned before the Hungarian GP, where the team debuts a long-awaited update package, the two-time world champion said that the situation cited by Newey was in the past.
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“Regarding Adrian’s comments, I think that’s more in the past,” he stated. “I think in the past, it’s true that sometimes we had different opinions on race weekends, in terms of feel, weak points of the car when we were racing with other cars, what we felt behind the wheel.”
According to Alonso, at times the team’s data ended up prevailing over the drivers’ perceptions: “Sometimes, when you go back to the factory and see the data, you find that things behaved poorly in aerodynamics and that perhaps pointed the car’s direction in two different ways.”
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“Perhaps the data were the winners in those debates. I think Adrian is a type of designer who listens to both sides. The data for sure, but also what the drivers feel.”
The Spaniard stressed that data alone does not explain everything in Formula 1. “That’s why data is not 100% the truth. I think you need to combine both things and Adrian has the best experience in the world to design a car and develop a car, and I think we are on the right track.”
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