Aston Martin boss Adrian Newey has revealed his team have been at a “disadvantage” for four months.

Formula 1’s biggest ever rules change could lead to a shake-up in the pecking order, with Aston Martin expected to make a giant leap under the influence of design genius Newey, who helped create 15 championship-winning cars.

F1 teams have been allowed to work on their 2026 machines since January 2025, with longer periods of work on power units, but Aston Martin is already playing catch-up and arrived late at last week’s Barcelona race.

“The AMR Technology Campus is still evolving, the CoreWeave wind tunnel didn’t become popular until April and I only joined the team in March last year, so we were really starting from the back. It was a very compressed timeframe and an extremely busy 10 months,” said Newey. Aston Martin website.

“The reality is that we only had 26 models of our cars in the wind tunnel until mid-April, whereas most, if not all, of our competitors would have had a model in the wind tunnel from the moment the 2026 aeronautical testing ban ended in early January last year.

“That puts us about four months behind schedule, which means the research and design cycle is very, very compressed. The car wasn’t put together until the very last minute, which is why we’re trying so hard to get to the Barcelona test.”

Aston Martin completed just 65 laps in Barcelona – the fewest of the 10 teams competing there, with Williams missing the entire event.

But when Aston Martin unveiled its black car on the penultimate day, it attracted widespread attention because the car was designed to be unlike any other on the track, with an aggressive bodywork that redirected airflow.

“I never considered any of my designs to be aggressive,” Newey said. “I just kept doing things and pursuing what we felt was the right direction.

“The direction we’re taking can certainly be interpreted as aggressive. It has a lot of features that haven’t necessarily been done before. Does that mean it’s aggressive? Probably. Probably not.”

Newey: Aston Martin wants cars with ‘lots of potential’

A big development race always takes place during the first season, with new rules coming as teams learn the nuances of their cars and add significant upgrades in search of performance.

Red Bull have generally excelled in the field during Newey’s 18-year tenure, with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen both claiming four consecutive drivers’ titles.

Newey said the AMR26 “is more compactly packed than Aston Martin’s first six F1 cars since joining F1 in 2020.

“We’re trying to build something that we hope has a lot of potential for development,” he said.

“What you want to avoid is a car that’s pretty optimized in the window but lacks a lot of potential for development.

“We’re trying to do the opposite, which is why we’re really focusing on the basics, putting in our effort, knowing some of the add-ons – wings, bodywork, things that can change over the course of the season – that hopefully have the potential to grow.”

When does the F1 Bahrain pre-season test take place?

The introduction of the new regulations means there will be a full schedule of three separate testing events before the start of the 2026 season.

With the closed race in Barcelona over, F1 will next head to Bahrain for two “official” pre-season tests, where the media will be present and on-track timing will be provided.

The two three-day Tests in Bahrain are held from February 11 to 13 and 18 to 20 respectively.

When was the first F1 race?

Teams then have two weeks to prepare for the first round of the season, the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne from March 6-8.

The first practice session of the season will be held on Friday 6 March, qualifying will be held on Saturday 7 March and the opening race will be held on Sunday 8 March.

Stream every race of the 2026 F1 season live on Sky Sports, starting with the Australian Grand Prix on March 6-8. Watch Sky Sports now – no contract, cancel anytime