Adrian Newey has made his first paddock appearance as an Aston Martin man, arriving in Monaco after diving head-first into the team's 2026 Formula 1 project.
The legendary F1 designer, who started work at Aston Martin in March, confirmed he's been flat-out ever since.
"I took a weekend off two weeks ago," he smiled in Monaco, "but other than that, I've been at the factory since March."
"My wife says I go into a trance when I'm designing, and I can understand what she means because it's a period of intense concentration, with all my processing power poured into the design."
Newey's arrival couldn't be more timely — among his greatest strengths is in exploiting fresh technical rulebooks from the outset, and F1's sweeping 2026 regulation reset plays right into that skillset.
Initially, he wasn't impressed by the FIA's 2026 rules.
"My first reaction when I saw them was the same as it was in 2022 – I thought there wasn't much room for the designer," he said.
"But when you get into the details, there's reasonable flexibility. You'd always like more, but I imagine there will be different solutions at the start of next year before everything starts to converge."
Newey says he now spends "99 percent" of his time on the 2026 car, while still regularly collaborating with the group focused on 2025 - but only on his lunchbreaks.
"We discuss the strengths and weaknesses, and maybe my colleagues can learn something from that."
Despite the team's significant recent investments, Newey sees developmental gaps.
"You could say that some of our tools are weak," he told AS.
"Particularly the simulator. It needs a lot of work because there's no correlation at the moment, and it's a fundamental development tool. Not having that is a limitation, but we have to work in the meantime. It's probably a two-year project."
The human capital, he says, is strong — but still adjusting to rapid growth.
"The people are very good, but we need them to work together, perhaps with a better organisation. It's a result of the team's origins in Jordan, Force India, Racing Point. It was a team that performed above its capabilities, but in a very short time they've grown enormously.
"Now all that needs to be adjusted accordingly."
Newey calls Aston Martin's new wind tunnel and factory "indisputably the best in Formula 1", but notes they're still ramping up:
"They're very complex tools, still in the development phase, so the productivity isn't there yet. You need a good wind tunnel, but in the end, what makes the difference is the human element."
On the driver front, Newey offered a rare public endorsement of Lance Stroll — often criticised as a privileged and protected driver due to his father's ownership of the team.
"When you compare Lance to the teammates he's had — Checo (Perez), Nico Hulkenberg, Sebastian (Vettel), now Fernando — he's always been there," Newey said.
"Every driver he's had in front of him has been very good, and Lance is much better than people think."
He also expressed admiration for Fernando Alonso, who's signed only through 2026.
"Fernando is very important. He's been an enemy for many years, along with Lewis (Hamilton), but I think I've said it before that the two drivers of the modern era I want to work with are Lewis and Fernando.
"I haven't been able to work with both of them, but at least I have Fernando now," he smiled.
Still, when asked if Alonso will have a title-winning car in 2026, Newey remained cautious: "I have no idea."
