Adrian Newey admits a late start for Aston Martin’s 2026 Formula One challenger is “bound to” impact the team’s results early in the new season.

Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll first glimpsed the AMR26 in black camouflage livery on track at last month’s Barcelona test session, and this year the look was officially unveiled in Saudi Arabia on Monday.

There’s nothing surprising in terms of the color scheme, with the team sticking to the “racing green” hue it has used since returning to the sport in 2021, but there’s still something exciting to be had for the first car designed under Newey’s leadership.

Newey joined in March 2025 as managing technical partner before taking on the role of team principal ahead of the new season. He explained last week that Aston Martin’s brand new wind tunnel was not ready for use until April last year, leaving them behind its rivals as completely new rules are introduced for the 2026 season.

Ask on Monday sky sports news Asked whether the postponement would cost Aston Martin early in the season, Newey said: “To be honest, it has to.

“We entered the tunnel in mid-to-late April and everyone else was on January 2. But more importantly, everyone else was working on their CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and general layout and mechanical layout, well ahead of us, so we started to be at a disadvantage and we’ll try our best to catch up.”

Even after its debut at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya just over a day ago, the AMR26 was still wearing camouflage livery and immediately attracted attention in the pit lane, with its front end, side pods and bonnet all different from its rivals.

While nothing further can be learned about the AMR26’s design on Monday as the livery was unveiled on a show car, there will no doubt be a lot of attention on the green race car when pre-season testing continues in Bahrain on Wednesday.

Newey added: “We have been working on updates initially for the first race and are now looking at subsequent updates, which is the nature of Formula 1 anyway, but also very new rules and a car with a very compressed cycle.”

Alonso: We need to walk before we run

Aston Martin has long viewed the arrival of drastic new regulations for the 2026 season as an opportunity for them to become title contenders, and Newey’s arrival has only strengthened their belief.

Two-time world champion Alonso was given a long-term vision when he joined the team in 2023, but after a promising green season he has had to endure two lackluster seasons.

The 44-year-old Spaniard has insisted over the past few years that his side offer the best overall package for a new generation, but warned that challenging for wins and titles could take some time.

“I feel this is an important moment for the Aston Martin project,” Alonso said. sky sports news. “Our facility is finally complete. Now we have our own wind tunnel to design the car, no longer a third party. For the first time we have our own gearbox – which is a big challenge, but in a way it gives you the freedom to design key components of the car for the first time. We have Honda as a partner, so now everything comes together.

“Our biggest challenge is gluing everything together and timing, especially for me. Last year we were seventh in the Constructors’ Championship and we need to walk before we run, we need to take it one step at a time.

“We’re competitors, we want to win, we want to compete for big things, and I think it’s going to take a little while, but we want to keep that as short a time as possible.”

Alonso’s teammate Stroll, son of team boss Laurence Stroll, also believes Aston Martin cannot be expected to be a contender for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix on March 8.

“We still have to manage expectations,” Stroll told sky sports news. “Everything is still fresh. The relationship with Honda is new, we are building our own gearbox for the first time and Adrian has just joined the team.

“I don’t think we’ll be ready to fight for race wins when we arrive in Melbourne. It’s more about the pace of development throughout the season and improving as efficiently as possible and getting better every weekend.

“We have all the tools to fight for race wins and championships. Is this going to happen overnight? No. Do I believe we can achieve this? Yes, and that’s why I’m very motivated and excited to be a part of this journey.”

Sky Sports F1 Bahrain test schedule

Test 1: Wednesday, February 11, Thursday, February 12, Friday, February 13

• 3 p.m.: Last hour of live track and field events
• 8pm: Test ends
• 8.30pm: Ted’s Test Notebook

Test 2: Wednesday, February 18th, Thursday 19th, Friday, February 20th

• 6.50am-11.05am: Morning live broadcast
• 11.55am-4.10pm: Afternoon live broadcast
• 8pm: Test ends

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