Adrian Newey‘s “unquestionable leadership” will ensure Aston Martin gets back on track despite difficult start to Formula 1 this season.
The 2026 regulations have thrown a spanner in the works for all the teams up and down the grid.
The massive shift in the rulebook has meant a lot of teething issues and gremlins to be fixed – which the teams discovered throughout the three pre-season events in Barcelona and Bahrain between January and February.
The Silverstone-based team wasn’t a stranger to this predicament, too. At the Bahrain International Circuit, these past two weeks, Aston Martin tried to log as much data as it could despite curtailed running and niggling issues.
Earlier this month, Lance Stroll had hinted at a potential performance deficit. He suggested that the Newey-designed AMR26 could be as many as four seconds slower than the leading pack.
That said, while addressing the media, Team Representative Pedro de la Rosa set the record straight, both, in terms of its competitive issues and Newey’s impact on the team.
“When things go right, we don’t need a leader. It’s when things go wrong,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
And in terms of leadership, the Briton has proven to be “critical” to the team’s ambitions. “It’s critical. A turning point is having Adrian in the team,” he added.
“We’re not happy. I mean, let’s be honest, no one is happy when you are a second slower than what you were expecting.”
Aston Martin already feeling the effects of an “inspiring” Adrian Newey
In the build up to the 2026 season, Lawrence Stroll announced that Newey will also be heading the team’s operations as its Team Principal.
And despite the rocky start it has endured, de la Rosa insisted that having Newey amongst its ranks has actually been a blessing in disguise.
He revealed how the Silverstone-based has already started to work on resolving the inherent issues with the car, and it has all been possible because of the Briton technical expertise and inspirational leadership.
“It’s just the fact that since Adrian has arrived, his leadership is unquestionable,” the former F1 driver asserted.
“The biggest difference I felt is, for example, yesterday, after a very difficult day testing here in Bahrain, he spoke on the technical debrief, and his leadership is so strong that all the team knows exactly what they have to do.
“And this is very different from previous years. Where everyone could have their own theory about things, or Adrian is very clear what has to be done, and no one raises the hand to question him.
“Therefore, you have this massive amount of resources working in one single direction. I know it might not sound convincing to you, but believe me, sitting there and listening to these moments was very, very inspiring for all of us, especially when things go wrong.”
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