(Motorsport-Total.com) – If there is a clear loser after the first half of the Formula 1 season – among many rankings that inevitably emerge at this time of year – Aston Martin is an obvious candidate.
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Adrian Newey admitted ahead of the upgrade for the Hungarian Grand Prix that the season had been “a nightmare” up to that point and the drivers could hardly race properly – simply because the gap to the newcomer Cadillac was already a full second at several weekends.
That hardly sounds like a place you want to be – and let’s be honest: it probably doesn’t have to be. If Fernando Alonso sticks to the philosophy he expressed at the end of last year, he might want to add another season.
Back then, the two-time world champion said he would retire if the car was competitive, to say goodbye at a high point. If that didn’t happen, he said he might feel compelled to continue a little longer.
Nevertheless, Aston Martin is a more attractive address than the current results suggest. Yes, these results were catastrophic, but part of the dampener comes from expectations that were unrealistically high and too simplistic.
With a state-of-the-art factory in Silverstone, a brand-new wind tunnel, Adrian Newey as a legendary designer, and a works partnership with Honda, it was all too easy to assume that all the ingredients were there to start immediately under the new regulations.
Ingredients for success are present
The reality is that all these ingredients are still there, but bringing them together simply takes more time than expected – much more time, in fact. This applies to all three of the factors mentioned above.
Newey said Aston Martin now has the best facilities in Formula 1, but also emphasized that it takes time to get the most out of these tools. According to Newey, this also affected his own work. Due to his late start and because Aston Martin’s new wind tunnel was only ready relatively late, he was constantly behind schedule.
“We made the decision – right or wrong – to delay the introduction of our model in the wind tunnel by another two weeks until our own tunnel was operational, instead of starting for a very short time in Brackley, only to move again afterwards.
“So that was the timing background. It was, I would say, a big build-up process, which is why in this sense everything simply fell behind. But you do what you can and just keep going.”
Furthermore, Honda encountered far more problems than originally assumed. It remains almost incomprehensible that Aston Martin – as Newey revealed in Melbourne – only learned about the actual state of Honda’s Formula 1 project in November 2025.
If that was really the case: what form of due diligence was carried out beforehand at all? It would mean that Aston Martin did not really know what they were getting into in 2023 – which sounds incredible for such an ambitious project.
Be that as it may, the reality is that Honda’s current Formula 1 division is very different from the one that celebrated so many successes with Red Bull, as it was largely built up with new personnel.
“Honda is a very unique company. Personnel therefore constantly switch between series vehicle projects and the Formula 1 project,” explained chief engineer Shintaro Orihara recently in an interview with Autosport, a sister platform of Motorsport-Total.com in the Motorsport Network.
“Last year we had many – not new people, but highly talented individuals from series car projects as well as some employees who stayed from the Red Bull project.”
“As always, we train talents in our Formula 1 project to strengthen Honda’s know-how. But then it probably became clear to us at the end of last year that our entire personnel development level was not sufficient for the Formula 1 level.”
Since then, Honda has taken several steps to address the problem – including recalling experienced personnel to the project. Nevertheless, Honda also acknowledges that catching up on the current deficit will take time.
Was the Hungary upgrade the first proof of a resurrection?
The conclusion is that expectations were set too high across the board and the puzzle to success has proven to be significantly more complicated than initially thought. But all the ingredients for success are still present.
The new factory will deliver results at some point; Honda believes it can become a “top competitor” in Formula 1 again by the end of 2027 or early 2028; and Newey has already shown signs of progress.
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This became clear in Hungary, where the first major upgrade package for the AMR26 was introduced. Of course, these upgrades did not immediately bring Aston Martin to where they ultimately want to be, but if you look purely at the numbers, the step forward was considerable.
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Below are the numbers from data partner Paceteq, who calculated the pure race pace for each Grand Prix. They represent Aston Martin’s average deficit in seconds per lap to the front of the field:
Australia: 3.852835104
China: 3.438488346
Japan: 3.496134294
Miami: 3.15427304
Canada: 4.033582678
Monaco: 3.097926979
Barcelona: 4.26984802
Austria: 3.115413453
Great Britain: 5.0718857
Belgium: 5.143466918
Hungary: 2.034325162
The huge deficits in Silverstone and Spa are somewhat distorted because these are long tracks and because the entire competition had already brought numerous updates by then, while Aston Martin was forced to wait and put all their cards on the Hungary package.
The Hungaroring is naturally a much shorter circuit where the gaps are traditionally smaller. In addition, the weaknesses of the power unit were less significant there.
Nevertheless, the progress is remarkable. In the race pace numbers from Paceteq, Aston Martin was not only ahead of Cadillac but also ahead of Williams and Haas. The gap to Alpine was minimal on this track at just over a tenth of a second, although the French team is eagerly awaiting its own updates in Zandvoort.
Progress is unmistakable
The progress at least suggests that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Newey has found lap time, and the striking concept should still offer room for further improvements.
Anyone walking through the pit lane can see how aggressively the Aston Martin is still designed – not only in the angle of attack but also in the undercut, the extreme solutions on the rear suspension, and numerous other design features.
Newey still has to unlock the true potential of the concept, but the fact that he has not completely discarded it suggests – if you know Newey – that he still sees hidden potential on the path he has chosen.
If Honda also manages to make a noticeable step forward with its first ADUO upgrade in Zandvoort, there will at least be cautious optimism again. If Lawrence Stroll manages to remain patient and finally install a capable team principal like Jonathan Wheatley so that Newey can focus exclusively on his design tasks, the remaining puzzle pieces could still come together.
Yes, all this is happening much later than expected, and yes, there is still an extremely long way to go for the project. But there are real signs of potential.
The world championship cars of Adrian Newey
As Alonso confidently put it in Hungary as usual: “It takes time, but I have no doubts, absolutely zero doubts, that Adrian will sooner or later provide the best car on the grid.”
“As far as the power unit is concerned, I also have no doubts. I think it is only a matter of time before Honda solves the problems, because that is exactly what they have been doing in motorsport for the last 40 years.”
Whether the 45-year-old Spaniard will still be around to reap the rewards is another question. If not, many drivers would be well advised to at least consider the Aston Martin project – especially drivers of the caliber of Carlos Sainz, who currently seems stuck, or someone who is left out when the driver market among the top 4 teams moves again at some point.
In the first half of 2025, even Max Verstappen was linked with the team from Silverstone – which said everything about the unrealistically high expectations at the time.
Although it now seems almost impossible to attract a driver of his caliber, Aston Martin could still become a very attractive address for many others – much more attractive than the current results suggest.
Yes, the start was catastrophic, but patience is a virtue. And over time, this project could prove to be another example of that.
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