Aston Martin, is the Newey era as team principal already over?
The start of the 2026 World Cup highlighted the difficulties ofAston Martinwhich not only concluded the first two GPs with four retirements but also made a fool of itself in the series. The AMR26 is not a car ready for the top, unlike what owner Lawrence hoped Strolland the biggest problem is that the time to return to competitiveness seems long. It’s the fault of a Honda that provided a low-performance and reliable power unit, even dangerous for the riders as demonstrated by Fernando Alonso’s retirement after 32 laps in Shanghai (“I no longer felt my hands and feet“).
The difficult start may have convinced the Canadian to retrace his steps regarding the role of team principal, held by Adrian Newey. Already at the time of the announcement – November 2025 – doubts were raised about the choice of the British man, a brilliant designer who however would find himself managing an entire team for the first time, including those “political” aspects that he doesn’t like at all.
Although Newey is not to blame Honda delays (the supply agreement dates back to 2023, well before his arrival at Aston Martin, while team principal was made official only four months ago), Aston Martin’s terrible sporting situation perhaps requires greater experience on the wall to gain positions again. And according to my colleague Antonio Lobato di SoyMotorhistorically close to Alonso, Stroll is reportedly looking for a new team principal.
“There is a lot of tension and a lot of nervousness in Aston Martin. At the moment there is a lack of leadership and I think a new team principal will arrive soon. They are looking for him. They’ve had three in the last three years, and Newey isn’t serving as team principal“, this is Lobato’s comment. “He also shouldn’t be in that role. For this they will have to find someone to fill his role, who will be the face of the team, defend it, deal with the media, deal with the other teams and interact with the FIA and the FOM“.
