Newey: “We only became aware of the ‘disaster’ in FP3 in Australia”

A season compromised from the start Adrian Newey has revealed that Aston Martin has several problems that go beyond the shortcomings of the power unit which he pointed the finger at at the beginning of the season in Australia. The aerodynamics wizard admitted that the first Aston Martin he designed is first and foremost overweight and that even at an aerodynamic level, risks were taken by him which posed challenges that were difficult to overcome. Newey explained that the whole team only had to come to terms with reality in FP3 in Australia because it had not been possible to expose the car’s defects beforehand: “The disaster was evident in Melbourne – explained Newey – due to various problems with the power unit, our first real test was actually the third free practice session of the Australian Grand Prix. Before that, in Barcelona and in the two tests in Bahrain, we spent too much time in the pits trying to get the power unit to work correctly with the chassis and gearbox. And as they say, when it doesn’t rain for a while then it pours. It’s one of those classic cases where it seemed like everything that could go wrong, did go wrong.” “Once we got over the initial shock of the situation we found ourselves in, the team’s reaction was really positive,” added Newey, “that’s the thing that stuck with me the most. The whole group came together around two clear priorities: first, get back on top with a major package of updates before the August break; second, lay a solid foundation for the future. If you walk around the AMR Technology Campus at night, you still see the lights on. People work late, there is great motivation and a real determination to prove that we can do it.”

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-07-02 05:00:00