Fernando Alonso’s Adrian Newey conversations have become one of Aston Martin’s more important assets during a grim opening to the 2026 Formula 1 season. The car has not merely underperformed. It has spent too much time at the wrong end of the timing screens, which is not where Aston Martin expected to be.
After seven races, Aston Martin has scored a single point. Alonso delivered it by finishing 10th in Monaco, a result that currently carries the weight of an entire campaign. The AMR26 has been held back by chassis and engine problems, and the team’s first attempt at building its own gearbox for 2026 has also brought trouble, including a loss of gear synchronization at low speed.
What is going wrong with Aston Martin’s 2026 car?
The Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona was particularly bleak. Aston Martin was the slowest team in the field, even behind new entrant Cadillac. That is not the preferred way to welcome a fresh rival to Formula 1.
Aston Martin is not expecting a quick fix. No upgrades are due until a major package around the summer break, leaving Alonso, Lance Stroll and the engineers to manage the current car as best they can for now. In practical terms, that means gathering data, limiting the damage and trying to keep frustration from taking over.
Alonso said Newey, Aston Martin’s managing technical partner, is already heavily involved in understanding the AMR26’s weaknesses and shaping the fixes to come. His role is bigger than designing future parts in isolation. According to Alonso, Newey is closely connected to the race-weekend feedback loop.
How is Adrian Newey working with Alonso?
“We speak with him every week, so it's not that we are not updated on things,” Alonso told media, including RacingNews365.
Alonso said that when Newey attends races, he focuses carefully on what the drivers are reporting from inside the cockpit. That feedback matters because Aston Martin’s problems are real, not theoretical. They show up corner by corner, especially when the car is unstable, slow to respond or difficult to place with confidence.
“When he comes to the track he is always meticulously into the feedback of the driver and try to understand exactly what is going on in each of the corners,” Alonso said.
The two-time world champion added that Newey is already looking beyond the next race and tying today’s problems to the next upgrade plans. That includes the large upgrade package expected near the summer break and further work aimed at street circuits later in the season.
“I think he's thinking ahead of time, so he's thinking what the new package will bring to that, the specific problems that we are experiencing in Monaco and not only this one,” Alonso said. “He's thinking for the Singapore package, what can be done for the next street circuit, and things like that.”
Why Newey’s involvement matters now
For Aston Martin, Newey’s presence offers something more important right now: a way forward. The team’s early 2026 form has left it exposed, and Alonso’s comments suggest the focus is now on turning detailed driver complaints into development direction.
There is no instant fix in Formula 1, especially when the weaknesses involve the chassis, power unit integration and gearbox behavior. But Alonso’s message was clear enough. Aston Martin believes it has the right person helping to diagnose the mess.
“So we have the best with us,” Alonso said, “so the more time we spend with him on track, the better it will be.”
That is not a guarantee of recovery. It is, however, a reminder that Aston Martin’s season is still being actively worked on rather than quietly endured. For Alonso, who has built a career on extracting more than a car appears willing to give, that distinction matters.
