On Thursday afternoon, Aston Martin surprised social media by posting images immortalizing the first meeting between Adrian Newey and Fernando Alonso at the Silverstone factory following the engineer’s arrival at the team. The driver arrived at the factory to talk to his engineers and carry out tests in the simulator, with the aim of improving aspects of the AMR25, currently ninth on the grid. But he didn’t miss the opportunity to have his first meeting with Newey to discuss the future.
AMR25 performance
Fernando Alonso arrived at the factory at a very delicate time for Aston Martin. The team has had a disastrous start to the year, currently sitting in ninth place on the grid. Only the extreme driving skills of the Asturian driver are keeping the car close to the top 10, but the reality is that the car built for this season is far from the team’s expectations for the future.
But the factory visit comes at a decisive moment for the team and its aspirations for this season. The first package of upgrades will arrive on the track in the next two races: Miami will already have some new parts, and in Italy there will be a major change to the car. These updates will mark the season for Aston Martin, which will only receive another new package of updates in the second half of the season.
Adrian Newey focused on 2026
There has been much speculation about the role of Adrian Newey at Aston Martin, and much speculation about his influence on the AMR25 given the team’s situation. However, Aston Martin’s roadmap is clear regarding the engineer: the main objective is for him to be able to build a car that can fight for championships from 2026 onwards, so he will remain 100% focused on next year’s project, where new regulations come into play.
The team’s goal is for Adrian Newey to design a winning car. He is now working alongside Honda, which is responsible for the car’s power unit, a difficult challenge, but it is hoped that together they will be able to get to the start of the 2026 season with everything in place. They are pressed for time, but it seems that they are on schedule.
Meeting between Fernando Alonso and Adrian Newey
Fernando Alonso’s visit to Silverstone was not to meet with Adrian Newey, but he did not miss the opportunity to have a meeting with him. They spent a long time talking about the evolution of the AMR26 and how the work with Honda was progressing. The Asturian driver’s feelings after the meeting were very encouraging, and he is convinced that the project for next season will bear fruit. Lawrence Stroll’s investment finally seems to be paying off for the team.
Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso is focused on the present. He hopes that Aston Martin’s new updates will help the team take a step forward in the current championship. Although he does not have high hopes that the car will make a qualitative leap, he does hope that these upgrades will allow Aston Martin to fight for points in the upcoming races. It will not be an easy task, but the new updates, developed with Aston Martin’s new wind tunnel, are Fernando Alonso’s last hope to be able to fight in better conditions on the track. That said, Fernando Alonso leaves Silverstone more convinced than ever of Aston Martin’s project for next season, in what could be the Asturian driver’s last shot at his third F1 world title, no less than 20 years after his last one.