Aston Martin’s difficult start to the 2026 F1 season has put the team under the scanner, with reports from Italy suggesting that Adrian Newey could step down as team principal. The speculation surfaced after the team opened the season with two double DNFs, raising questions around leadership and technical direction.
The opening rounds in Australia and China exposed the scale of the challenge. Both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to finish either Grand Prix. Alonso completed 44 laps in two races, and Stroll even fewer, with vibration and reliability concerns of the Honda power unit continuing from pre-season.
All that intensified the noise around Adrian Newey’s role, with talk of him being replaced by Jonathan Wheatley swirling around. Aston Martin, however, moved quickly to shut down the reports.
“These articles are rumors and speculation. The Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team remains fully committed to Adrian Newey as associate technical executive director and team principal,” the team told AS.
Adrian Newey had already raised concerns before the Australian Grand Prix, pointing to severe vibrations in the Honda power unit that could damage a driver’s nerves. Honda President Koji Watanabe questioned why such comments were made publicly instead of internally. The episode highlighted early tension in what is still a new partnership.
Newey’s absence from the Chinese Grand Prix added to the speculation. However, former Aston Martin team principal and current trackside lead Mike Krack clarified that it was always part of a pre-defined schedule.
“There is a plan in place about where he’s supposed to come and where he does not, so we have not changed that,” Krack said, via Motorsports Week.
On whether Newey would miss further races, Krack added:
“I would have to go through the plan, but it was always clear that Adrian was not going to do all the races.”
Krack believes it was always clear that Adrian Newey would focus more on factory work than race weekend duties. With Honda’s home race at Suzuka approaching, his presence there would be expected, especially given the need to resolve power unit issues alongside engineers. The five-week gap after Japan could also offer a window to reset development direction.
Aston Martin sees progress despite results, says Mike Krack
While results have not reflected it, Aston Martin maintained that there were signs of improvement behind the scenes. The team ran more in China than in earlier sessions, even though both cars failed to finish again.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll retired in Australia before the 40-lap mark. They fared better in Shanghai, climbing one spot each in the China GP sprint and making it to the chequered flag at P17 and P18. While Stroll retired on Lap 9 in the GP, Alonso completed 32 laps. That was progress for Mike Krack.
“I think you would probably be laughing if I said we have made progress because today it did not look like massive progress,” Krack admitted via F1.com. “But when I look, for example, we have never done so many laps. You discover new things by running alone, but you also discover things when you run with others. We have seen things when we were in the Sprint. With cars together on Lap 1, on a restart, after a pit stop.”
Krack emphasized that track time was more valuable than outright pace, especially under new regulations.
“So, there is a huge amount of things that you learn. Also you find bugs. You find issues where you think, ‘why did that happen now?’ And you work through it and then you realise it is this kind of setting. It is important to run. It is important to accumulate knowledge… if you are in the garage, you will never find out.”
Whether that translates into a turnaround for Aston Martin depends on how quickly Honda resolves its core issues and how effectively the team integrates those fixes across upcoming races.
Edited by Hitesh Nigam
