Newey’s comments may be to ease pressure, says sim driver

Adrian Newey’s remarks about Aston Martin’s simulator problems may be more about managing expectations than reflecting long-term technical setbacks.

That’s the view of new Aston Martin simulator driver Dani Juncadella, who responded to Newey’s suggestion last month that the team’s driver-in-the-loop simulator is currently “not correlating at all” and “needs a lot of work.”

“Particularly the driver-in-the-loop simulator, which is a fundamental research tool, needs a lot of work,” Newey said in late May. “It’s not correlating at all at the moment.” T

eam boss Andy Cowell and lead driver Fernando Alonso quickly played down the severity of the situation, with Alonso saying he believes the issue can be resolved faster than Newey’s suggested two-year timeline.

Alonso said: “I think all the simulators have some kind of correlation issues to the real car, but I think it will take less than two years to fix ours.”

Juncadella, speaking to DAZN, agreed with Alonso’s take: “I don’t know how long it will take, but two years seems like a long time to me,” he said. “Obviously, things take time because, in the end, we’re talking about an organisation with so many people.

"Newey has arrived and needs to structure the team in his own way, as he sees fit, with the leadership he’s been given, and that takes time.”

He added that Newey may be strategically framing expectations: “I think it’s also a way of taking the weight off his shoulders to say it’s going to take two years. That means less pressure,” said the 34-year-old.

Juncadella believes that pressure is growing, especially with the scale of investment made by team owner Lawrence Stroll.

“I’m sure it’s been a wake-up call for everyone, especially in a world like Lawrence Stroll’s,” he said. “He’s not someone who likes to waste time. He needs solutions now.”

Despite being the team’s key simulator driver, Juncadella said the simulator’s importance is often overstated.

“It’s not like it’s the key piece of the puzzle to have a competitive car,” he insisted. “I’m sure that even if the simulator takes two years, the car will be better much sooner than that. If the simulator was that important, we would have the drivers in there every week.”

That said, he acknowledged that the simulator is particularly relevant right now, especially as Aston prepares for the switch to Honda power in 2026.

“The simulator is important for next year,” he said. “Even for testing very simple things like the new power units, where there are still many doubts about what will happen because I haven’t had the opportunity to test them.”

With Aston Martin moving from Mercedes to Honda engines in 2026, Juncadella warned that power unit performance could be a major variable.

“There’s a lot of disparity of opinion regarding the power units next year,” he said. “You can build a car that’s a real rocket, but if the power unit is a problem next year, as has happened in other years when there have been major regulation changes, it could make things very difficult for you.”