Adrian Newey on bringing the Aston Martin Aramco AMR26 F1 car to life with Aramco and Valvoline

Newey has designed cars that have won 12 Formula 1 drivers’ championships and 13 constructors’ championships for Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull. Now, he’s the team principal of the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team and managing technical partner - and the AMR26 is the first Aston Martin F1 car designed under his watch.

Here is what the famed F1 designer said about the AMR26, his approach to designing an F1 car and tackling a new set of regulations, and the power of Aramco as fuel supplier and title partner.

The impact of Aramco and full works status

Aston Martin Aramco’s status as a works team intersects with the biggest F1 rules change in history. Honda is the team’s engine supplier, Aston Martin builds the chassis, Aramco exclusively supplies Aramco ProForce+, its FIA-compliant 100% sustainable fuel that is derived from ‘Advanced Sustainable’ components (as defined by the FIA) specifically designed for the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team, and Valvoline supplies specialised lubricants.

Newey explains why being a works team is so important.

"The differences between having a power unit that is supplied to you and being a full works team are many, and particularly with this huge integration of the power unit into the chassis, it allows us to work with Honda in particular to look at the packaging shape.

“That means the external shape of the power unit best suits what we’re trying to achieve both aerodynamically and from the mechanical packaging point of view. That’s the opportunity that is very attractive to us.”

The liquid that combusts inside the engine is, of course, crucial as well. This is the Aramco Proforce+ fuel. In an interview with Aston Martin, Newey explained why Aramco matters to this project.

"Without having a technical partner and fuel supplier with Aramco's expertise, Honda's development of the power unit would be restricted, and that, in turn, would restrict us,” he said.

"They’ve had to reorganise. They've had to expand their facilities in certain areas to suit what is a very specific challenge: developing a fuel for a Formula 1 team. They are already experienced in this area as suppliers of lower-carbon fuels to other formulas, such as F2, F3 and F1 Academy, but, of course, Formula 1 being what it is, we want to take their knowledge and expertise much further. They are developing very specific fuels to suit the Honda engine and our needs,” he added.

Newey reveals his 2026 F1 design philosophy
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Newey famously likes working with a pen, paper, and a drawing board. That speaks to his talent of visualising how bodywork will affect airflow. During the AMR26 launch event at Ithra, Saudi Arabia, he outlined his technical approach to designing F1 cars

“Can I see the air? No, I can't,” he said with a chuckle. “I try to do my best to visualise what the flow is and what it's likely to be. Nowadays, of course, with CFD - computational fluid dynamics - that's a fabulous tool for actually being able to stare at a computer screen and understand what's going on.

The 2026 AMR26 turned heads. Mercedes’s George Russell called it “pretty spectacular” after its brief run-out in the pre-season Barcelona shakedown, and many in the paddock have noted its high-mounted rear suspension wishbones and heavily sloping sidepods.

Newey was coy about the AMR26’s design - which will no doubt change throughout the season.

"I never look at any of my designs as aggressive. I just get on with things and pursue what we feel is the right direction.

"The direction we've taken could certainly be interpreted as aggressive. It's got quite a few features that haven't necessarily been done before. Does that make it aggressive? Possibly. Possibly not."

The design challenges that Aston Martin Aramco overcame

Not only is the AMR26 the first Aston Martin F1 car designed with Newey at the helm, but it is the first designed at the AMR Technology Campus in Silverstone, United Kingdom. This includes a simulator and windtunnel (now named the Coreweave Air Tunnel) for more precise analysis and car development.

“I think, first of all, it's a lovely building to work in, it has a good atmosphere. It's a pleasant environment, because, let's face it, doing 12-hour days has got normal over the last month, so having a pleasant feeling in the room you're working in is very important,” said Newey.

“The layout of the building is very conducive to everybody working together. It's all very centralised, and the facilities are second to none as Lawrence's [Stroll, Aston Martin Lagonda executive chairman] vision and investment into this building has given us, without doubt, the best facilities in Formula 1, and that's a tremendous asset.”

There is still work to do, with more personnel shifts expected in the team in the near future.

“It's clearly only one part of the equation, the equally important or second part is the personnel that populate that building and how they work together, and that's the bit that I feel we're making huge strides on.”

While Newey began visualising his concept for the AMR26 back in March 2025, he admitted during the season launch that it was a rushed process.

“We had a very compressed design time. I joined in March, very early March [2025]; we didn’t get a model in the Air Tunnel until late April, so that gave us a very short time. We decided to follow a single philosophy, that’s what we pursued, and the car… is the result of that philosophy.”

The AMR25 made an appearance at Barcelona for the early February shakedown before the first official pre-season test in Bahrain on February 11-13, but it appeared in bare black carbon fibre rather than the satin green livery it boasted in Saudi Arabia.

“The car we ran briefly at Barcelona for a day and a half was all black, partially, in truth, because we didn't have time to paint it. And that was fabulous,” said Newey.

“Funnily enough. Lawrence and I, when it first pulled out of the garage with Lance [Stroll] driving, we were standing next to each other in the pitlane, and I think we were both quite close to having a tear in our eye, because it's been a long emotional journey of passion and a lot of public work to get it to Barcelona.”

Adrian Newey's AMR26 represents a bold new chapter for Aston Martin Aramco, and it’s a project that has had its fair share of challenges - as Newey outlined.

Yet, his reaction to the car’s launch and his candid appreciation of the team’s partnerships and infrastructure show that the Silverstone squad has something special.