Aston Martin's Slow Start: De la Rosa Dismisses 'Easy' Newey Excuse

Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa has acknowledged the team's troubled pre-season but firmly dismissed the "very easy" excuse of blaming their slow start on Adrian Newey's late arrival or Honda's power unit development timeline. The team completed just 394 laps in testing due to Honda battery vibration issues, putting them behind rivals in 2026 car development, but de la Rosa insists the focus must be on solutions, not past decisions.

Why it matters:

Aston Martin's ambitious project to become a frontrunner, fueled by the signing of legendary designer Adrian Newey, faces its first major public test of resilience. How the team responds to this early adversity—by finding fixes or making excuses—will set the tone for its credibility and development trajectory under new technical leadership in a critical regulatory era.

The details:

• The AMR26, Adrian Newey's first design for the team, was severely limited in pre-season testing, completing only 394 laps.
• The primary issue was traced to the Honda power unit, where vibrations were causing damage to the battery system.
• Honda, which returned to F1 in 2026 after withdrawing in 2021, is preparing solutions for the opening races.
• The team started 2026 car development later than all rivals, as Newey's gardening leave from Red Bull ended in spring 2025, leading to a project redesign upon his arrival.
• De la Rosa called blaming these circumstances a simple excuse, stating the team's energy is on understanding the problems and building a recovery plan.

What's next:

The immediate pressure is on Honda to deliver reliable power unit fixes and on Aston Martin's engineering team to accelerate development. The season's opening races will be a crucial proving ground for the team's new technical structure and its ability to climb from the back of the grid. De la Rosa's comments suggest an internal culture focused on forward progress, but tangible on-track improvement is the only metric that will silence the early critics.