Adrian Newey Reveals Critical Reason Behind Aston Martin's "Last-Minute" F1 Test Debut

New Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey has explained the reason behind the squad's late on-track debut at the end of the first week of Formula 1 pre-season testing in Spain.

The AMR26 broke cover to a frenzy of interest despite the private nature of the shakedown week at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, albeit only running for a short time on Thursday and not to full potential when on track on Friday, falling short of the maximum three days allocated to each team.

It is the first machine created by the Silverstone-based team since technical guru Newey joined last April, with his duties now added to by his team principal role, which he has taken over from Andy Cowell, who now oversees the collaboration between Aston Martin and Honda.

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin, 2026 F1 pre-season test — Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team

Eyebrows were raised when the new, completely black car rolled out with Lance Stroll behind the wheel, displaying an aggressive sidepod undercut, tight rear bodywork packaging, and a suspension arm mounted to the rear wing pillar.

On the back foot

"The AMR Technology Campus is still evolving," Newey said in an interview on Aston Martin's team website. "The CoreWeave Wind Tunnel wasn't on song until April, and I only joined the team last March, so we've started from behind, in truth. It's been a very compressed timescale and an extremely busy 10 months.

"The reality is that we didn't get a model of the '26 car into the wind tunnel until mid-April, whereas most, if not all of our rivals would have had a model in the wind tunnel from the moment the 2026 aero testing ban ended at the beginning of January last year.

"That put us on the back foot by about four months, which has meant a very, very compressed research and design cycle. The car only came together at the last minute, which is why we were fighting to make it to the Barcelona Shakedown."

Aston Martin completed 65 laps across its two days at the Spanish circuit, which paled in comparison to rivals. Haas' Esteban Ocon completed over 150 on the first day alone.

A timeless champion.

Aston Martin Aramco Team Ambassador, @JensonButton. pic.twitter.com/F7j1I6nOct
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) February 2, 2026

Stroll is again joined by two-time world champion Fernando Alonso as the team embarks on a new era with Honda at the start of F1's new technical regulatory cycle.

The team has also added 2009 champion Jenson Button as a brand ambassador, the Briton linking up with former McLaren teammate Alonso. He will complete several sponsor activations to help take the workload off the driver's shoulders.

The Latest Formula 1 News