Adrian Newey rated the chassis of the AMR26, Aston Martin’s car for the 2026 Formula 1 season, as the ‘fifth best’ on the current grid, even with the reliability problems faced by the team in Melbourne during the first race weekend of this year. The renowned British designer highlighted the car’s development potential and believes it could close in on the leaders throughout the year.
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“On the chassis side, we faced a very condensed development period. We weren’t able to send a model to the wind tunnel until mid-April, so we were well behind the competitors. What we tried to focus on was having a solid architectural package, with parts that cannot be easily changed during the season. I think we achieved that,” said Newey.
The Aston Martin boss stated that, despite still being behind in Melbourne, the AMR26 has a large margin for evolution: “It will take a few races to fully realize this potential. We have a fairly aggressive development plan. Here in Melbourne, we are a bit behind the leaders. I would say we are perhaps the fifth best team, Q3 potential in terms of chassis. It’s not where we want to be, but there is potential for us to fight at the front during the season,” he stated.
Newey further explained that the lap performance difference is estimated between three-quarters of a second and one second, considering only the chassis, and that the final performance will also depend on the power and operation of the Honda engine, which has been presenting serious problems: “When we talk about pure power, there’s no point in speculating. We will measure accurately over the weekend with GPS data and F1 TV analysis, which will allow us to understand exactly the time deficit per engine.”
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The Briton highlighted the challenge of the new 2026 rules, which combine electric energy and internal combustion engine (ICE): “The lower the ICE power, the more you need to compensate with electric energy, but when you really need it on the straights, the battery might be depleted. This creates a downward cycle that affects on-track performance,” he added.
Despite the initial difficulties, Newey remains optimistic about the AMR26: “I see no reason why, with time and the right development, we cannot become competitive, at least in terms of the chassis. The car’s architecture allows for this and the evolution plan is already underway,” he completed.
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