Aston Martin hopes to make a major step forward under the new Formula 1 regulations. With Adrian Newey, Honda and state-of-the-art facilities, significant investments have been made, but where does the project really stand?
Aston Martin was one of the first teams to shift focus to the new ruleset. According to both team management and the drivers, it has led to a “very painful” 2025 season, but it is meant to pay dividends this year. Behind the scenes, no expense has been spared: the arrival of Newey was logically a key factor, as was the works partnership with Honda and the new facilities at the Silverstone campus.
The crux, however, is bringing all of those elements together, for which 2025 served as a learning year. That applies both on a human level – integrating the team – and validating the new tools. The limited upgrades that were introduced last season were not only intended to improve the underwhelming AMR25, but above all to validate the team's new development tools.
As the start of F1's new era approaches, the question arises where the team stands and whether it is ready to take a big step forward under the new regulations.
“We're at least in a much better position [than at the start of 2025],” Andy Cowell replied when asked by Autosport. “There's been concerted effort through the updates that we've done to make sure that our CFD understanding, wind tunnel understanding and track measurement is as good as it could possibly be. We want to make sure that we're doing thorough engineering, so that when we look at the data from those three worlds – the three worlds of aerodynamics – we’ve done the very best possible measurement.”
Cowell – who had to take a step back from his team principal role – referred to the need for CFD, wind tunnel and on-track data to match. It’s crucial in modern F1 and was a persistent problem at, for example, Red Bull. Christian Horner described it as “looking at different watches”. If the on-track picture does not match the virtual tools, it becomes almost impossible to determine a development strategy and trust it. Despite the completely different regulations, Aston Martin has invested heavily in getting those 'three watches' to show the same time.
Aston Martin wind tunnel
Photo by: Aston Martin
“We looked closely at the differences and tried to understand them. What's the track – the real world – saying, and then the other two simulations, an empirical one and a computer-based one. The update we did in Imola provided a strong example. The front wing and the floor that we did, subsequently provided some great data to improve our understanding.”
As a result, the correlation has improved, but that is by no means a guarantee of success. Everything depends on the 2026 package, both aerodynamically and in terms of the power unit. The FIA shared the expectation that the power unit – particularly the internal combustion engine – will be the biggest performance differentiator in 2026, and that raises the question of where Honda stands.
Given the recent successes with Red Bull, the Japanese manufacturer’s track record is strong, but that comes with a very important caveat: Honda's F1 project has undergone significant changes. Last year, Koji Watanabe acknowledged that many people had been moved away from the F1 project and redeployed to other R&D activities within the company.
That traces back to Honda’s decision to officially leave F1 at the end of 2021. The Japanese brand subsequently struck a deal with Red Bull to continue operating its power units until the end of 2025 (also linked to the intellectual properties), but the impact on Honda’s F1 project had already been felt. As a result, Honda has had to rebuild it to some extent following the deal with Aston Martin for 2026.
A second variable is the recent controversy surrounding the compression ratio. For 2026 it has been reduced from 18:1 to 16:1, but rivals have learned that Mercedes and Red Bull Powertrains may be exploiting a loophole. Discussions with the FIA are scheduled for 22 January, as both manufacturers seem to comply with static tests at ambient temperature, but can achieve a higher ratio while running. Audi, Ferrari and Honda have all asked the FIA for clarification, which already shows they may not have exploited this grey area itself.
On the other hand, Honda must still have most of the know-how in-house, and according to Cowell the relationship with Aston Martin is developing as hoped. The Silverstone-based team has two trump cards in this respect: Cowell himself, who brings valuable engine expertise from his years at Mercedes HPP, and Newey.
Andy Cowell, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“I think it's a big benefit. Adrian knows, understands and respects Honda,” Cowell said. “That's the thing and that just helps all conversations. The relationship is already there, so the conversations are into the engineering details swiftly.”
As a result, he is confident that Aston Martin won't make the same mistakes that McLaren made in its communication with the Japanese manufacturer: “I think our team is engineering-led, and Honda are engineering-led as well. As soon as you get into the engineering things, we talk the same language.”
Motivation and facilities – especially the ones in Sakura – are not lacking, but after the decision to officially leave F1 and to later rebuild the project, Honda still has to prove itself again. On top of that, partners Aramco and Valvoline are relatively inexperienced in modern F1, which also explains why Cowell – after Newey took over as team principal – is primarily tasked with bringing all these technical aspects on the engine front together.
The last factor is, logically, the chassis and aero package Aston Martin will produce. It's closely linked to Honda, as the team now enjoys the luxury of being a works outfit. It no longer has to adapt its design to a customer engine supplied by Mercedes, but can work with Honda on compromises that are best for the stopwatch.
“It's liberating for our engineers,” Cowell reacted. “They’ve now got the opportunity to have that dialogue and share data on what's the best way of packaging the back of the chassis, the front of the power unit, what's the best way of coming up with cooling systems, et cetera. How do you optimise lap time across all of these systems?”
Although this approach might come with some risks – as does producing its own gearbox – it should bring long-term benefits. The main question is when everything will truly come together. Dan Fallows, former technical director at Red Bull and Aston Martin, explained on the James Allen on F1 podcast that it normally takes some more time to fit all of these puzzle pieces together.
Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Sutton Images via Getty Images
“It's a team that is on a journey and makes quite impressive progress. I think the move to Honda was a big step for them because it is a works team now. Whether the Honda power unit will be where it needs to be to start off with is a mood point, but we have seen that Honda can develop and they have put a huge amount of resources into it. So even if they are not where they need to be, they will get there in fairly short order.”
“It's a growth phase for the team, and we shouldn’t forget that. Even though Adrian joining marks a big step in their development, it’s still a process and it does take time. They’ve gone from something which was a fairly small team and a fairly small factory when I joined to something which is much more like the size that you need, but it takes a long time for the various departments to work together in the correct way.”
“And I think Adrian would be the first person to admit that you can’t go from zero to absolute championship contenders in no time at all. I think the key thing for them is to see that they continue that journey in the right way.”
It should lead to success longer term, but perhaps not directly in the first year under the new rules.
“I don’t think anybody inside the team will expect them to be championship contenders from the outset,” Fallows continued. “But I’ve worked with Adrian before and he’s capable of pulling out surprises, so who knows! But I think if we see some good progress from them as a team, they will be pleased with that this year.”
That seems an apt summary of Aston Martin's current state. In many areas – facilities, personnel, Honda, and its partners – Aston Martin is still a project in development. Normally, such a process needs time before the team can truly reap the rewards, with the only potential shortcut being Newey finding a technical solution that others have not. It's certainly not impossible given his track record, but without another Newey trick it may take a little longer than just 2026 to fully solve the puzzle for a title quest.
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- The Autosport.com Team
Source: Autosport