(Motorsport-Total.com) – The Aston Martin debacle is the big topic at this year’s Formula 1 season opener in Australia: due to severe vibrations caused by the Honda power unit, damage to the battery is occurring. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll can only drive a few laps at a time.
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It is tempting to pass the buck solely to Honda and blame the engine partner for the current misery. However, ex-Formula 1 pilot Ivan Capelli, who competed in a total of 93 races between 1985 and 1993, has an additional theory as to why things are currently not going well at Aston Martin.
“Perhaps Newey’s limits are now coming to light, even though I still consider him the only real genius in Formula 1 from a design and engineering perspective,” the Italian tells Sky Italia, potentially hitting a sore spot.
Adrian Newey overwhelmed with 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 thus has to fill two roles at the same time – a role he has never held before,” Capelli recalls.
The motorsport career of Adrian Newey
“There are signs that he is struggling with this dual role,” the ex-Formula 1 pilot suggests. Whether this represents an additional problem for Aston Martin? Even after the announcement last year that Newey would take over the role of team principal from 2026, there were clear doubts.
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Both fans and Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko were skeptical of the Briton’s additional position. Leading a racing team at the track is “certainly not his strength,” the Austrian said a few months ago in an interview with the Kleine Zeitung and could well be right.
Must Adrian Newey give up the team principal position?
Because now exactly what many fans feared could happen: a brilliant engineer is not automatically a good team principal. Memories of Mattia Binotto at Ferrari are awakened: the Italian took over the post of Ferrari team principal in 2019 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 even failing the 107 percent rule in qualifying is conceivable. Expert Timo Glock made it clear in an interview with Sky that it was “an absolute 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 significantly influence the future of Adrian Newey – or at least his role and tasks within the team.
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