Aston Martin is struggling with massive problems and holds engine partner Honda responsible – An expert also criticizes Adrian Newey’s dual role
The debacle surrounding Aston Martin is the big topic at this year’s Formula 1 season opener in Australia: severe vibrations caused by the Honda power unit are damaging the battery. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll can only drive a few laps at a time.
It would be easy to pass the buck to Honda and blame the engine partner for the current predicament. But former Formula 1 driver Ivan Capelli, who competed in a total of 93 races between 1985 and 1993, has an additional theory as to why Aston Martin is currently struggling.
“Perhaps Newey’s limitations are now becoming apparent, even though I still consider him the only real genius in Formula 1 from a design and engineering point of view,” the Italian told Sky Italia, possibly hitting a sore spot.
Is Adrian Newey overwhelmed by his dual role?
Since the beginning of the year, Adrian Newey has not only been responsible for the development of the AMR26. “Adrian’s problem is that he is now also team principal and therefore has to fulfill two roles at the same time—a role he has never held before,” Capelli recalls.
“There are signs that he is struggling with this dual role,” suggests the former Formula 1 driver. Does this pose an additional problem for Aston Martin? Even after last year’s announcement that Newey would take on the role of team principal from 2026, there were clear doubts.
Both fans and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko were skeptical about the Briton’s additional position. Leading a racing team on the track is “certainly not his strength,” the Austrian said a few months ago in an interview with the Kleine Zeitung newspaper, and he may well be right.
Does Adrian Newey have to give up the team principal position?
Because now, exactly what many fans feared could happen: a brilliant engineer is not automatically a good team boss. Memories of Mattia Binotto at Ferrari come to mind: in 2019, the Italian took on the role of Ferrari team boss in addition to his role as technical director—without much success.
Aston Martin may face a similar fate. The team is currently struggling to keep up with the competition, and it is even conceivable that it could fail to meet the 107% rule in qualifying. In an interview with Sky, expert Timo Glock made it clear that this would be “an absolute low blow” and “a complete disaster” for Aston Martin.
It remains to be seen how the situation develops and whether Honda can find a quick solution to the problems. If Aston Martin does not manage to turn things around in time, this could also have a significant impact on Adrian Newey’s future – or at least his role and responsibilities within the team.
