Adrian Newey insists on managing expectations for 2026 championship hopes

F1 genius Adrian Newey left Red Bull Racing in 2024 after nearly two decades and designed multiple championship-winning cars. Newey announced his move to Aston Martin for the 2025 season and has already shifted focus to the 2026 cars with the new regulations on the horizon. However, the F1 aerodynamicist has insisted on managing expectations for the 2026 championship challenge.

Former F1 driver Riccardo Patrese spoke with Adrian Newey at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and revealed how the F1 aerodynamicist has insisted on managing expectations for 2026. Patrese said, (via PlanetF1, who sourced a gambling site)

“I spoke with Adrian [Newey] at Goodwood and he feels that next year they won’t be ready and not raise expectations.“If they come out and they are ready, it looks better for him! But he seemed honest when he said they would not be ready to go for the Championship. But you never know, because Adrian is incredible. Probably in his heart, he hopes to be ready already next year, but he doesn’t want to say that.”

Billionaire Lawrence Stroll bought the Force India F1 team and, since then, has invested millions to make the team a championship contender. Since the team was renamed Aston Martin ahead of the 2021 season, the Silverstone-based team has made multiple high-profile signings, including former Red Bull designer Dan Follows and the brain behind the Mercedes turbo hybrid engine, Andy Cowell.

Aston Martin Announce The Arrival Of Adrian Newey - Source: Getty

Ferrari's former chassis technical director Enrico Cardile is also set to join Aston Martin ahead of the 2026 season as the Chief Technical Officer. These high-profile signings are combined with Lawrence Stroll investing hundreds of millions in a new state-of-the-art factory and wind tunnel, which became fully operational earlier this year.

Aston Martin, which is currently a Mercedes customer team, has partnered with Honda for the 2026 season as their exclusive customer. All these changes, in combination with Adrian Newey’s arrival, have positioned the Silverstone-based team as a possible threat for the 2026 title, especially with the new regulations neutralizing the field for everyone.

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Aston Martin CEO hails Adrian Newey’s impact ahead of the 2026 regulation changes

Andy Cowell joined Aston Martin as the CEO and Team Principal, with former TP Mike Krack taking up the role of Chief Trackside Officer. Cowell came out and hailed Adrian Newey's impact, who joined the Silverstone-based squad in March. Hailing the aerodynamicist, Cowell said,

“He's spent hour after hour after hour at his drawing board just thinking about suspension concepts, the monocoque, where to put the engine, how to position the driver – all those detail architectural aspects of the racecar.” (via F1)

“He packages ten things into the space where only one would normally fit, and all the engineers see that as a challenge. It's not just the engineers, it's the whole group of people within the aerodynamics development area,” added Andy Cowell

Adrian Newey has joined Aston Martin on a long-term deal as the Managing Technical Partner and a shareholder.