Adrian Newey has revealed his preferred approach to tackling the 2026 Formula 1 regulations reset amid his start to life at Aston Martin.
The 66-year-old is slated to spearhead the Silverstone-based squad’s foray into the technical revamp kicking off next season.
After almost two decades with Red Bull, Newey finally assumed his Managing Technical Partner role at Aston Martin earlier this year, having served his gardening leave.
With pre-season testing for 2026 only a few months away, the Briton has offered a revealing insight into the inner workings of the team as they gear up for the regulation change.
“We are a team of around 300 engineers. Collaboration of course is the most important single aspect and in many ways more than individual talents within the organisation,” he said in an interview with the team’s sponsor Ma’aden.
“It’s how we all work together [and] make sure that we communicate and we extract the most from each other.
“For me personally, what does that mean? Well, it means I spend probably around 50% of my day at the moment working with the other engineers, either at a one-to-one level, gathered around a CAD [computer-aided design] station, or in meetings.”
Newey was adamant, however, that he values the time spent one-on-one with the engineers.
Looking ahead to a crucial period for the team, he advised it to prioritise meaningful feedback over corporate red-tapism.
“I generally, if I’m honest, prefer the former, because I think one-to-one meetings are quite often where you can do the brainstorm ones,” he added.
“The big meetings, if you’re not careful, become procedural information exchanges without actually coming up with new ideas, which is, of course, the important bit. So we need a mixture.”
Newey sets 2026 Aston Martin expectations
The sophomore year of the ground effects regulations saw Aston Martin emerge as the dark horse of the season.
Fernando Alonso led the charge, securing eight podiums, but as its development petered out, Aston Martin settled back into the lower echelons of the midfield.
With a works Honda power unit deal also ready to come into play from next season onwards, expectations are high regarding the British marque.
But Newey wants to avoid the mistakes of the past and focus on a gradual trajectory of progress that will see the team rise to the top of the grid.
“The honest answer is, I have absolutely no idea. We are in a period of transformation,” he said when asked about his expectations for next year.
“We’ve, as a team, grown rapidly. It’s really in a now settling down phase. Having grown hugely in numbers, we now need to settle everybody down, get them working well together.
“I’ve never been a believer in saying we will now achieve this or now achieve that.
“I think the satisfaction comes from working together to move forwards. If we can achieve that in 2026, that will be the first tick.”
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