2025 Aston Martin | Aramco F1 Team

[dren]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

Not surprised with Newey sniffing things out. Going for culture change.

[AR3-GP]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

I think we have to be realistic. This does not indicate a championship winning 2026 project. You don't sack the whole aero department 3 months before track launch if things are going well. This ties into the previous that Newey gave when he said there were people that said certain things can't be done. Now we know who those people are...

[Xyz22]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

I think we have to be realistic. This does not indicate a championship winning 2026 project. You don't sack the whole aero department 3 months before track launch if things are going well. This ties into the previous that Newey gave when he said there were people that said certain things can't be done. Now we know who those people are...

There is no way Honda will be on par with MB PU wise considering they started later, but i can see AM having a very strong chassis already in 2026. Knowing Newey he will prioritize getting macro ideas right, so i'm expecting a "heavy" car at the start of the season for example.

[DJ Downforce]

Blandin has been very disappointing. It was meant to be him and Fallows leading the revolution - how quick things can change....

[peewon]

Blandin has been very disappointing. It was meant to be him and Fallows leading the revolution - how quick things can change....

This is word for word the same comment as one under the article. What in the scraping bot hell is this?

[RedNEO]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

I think we have to be realistic. This does not indicate a championship winning 2026 project. You don't sack the whole aero department 3 months before track launch if things are going well. This ties into the previous that Newey gave when he said there were people that said certain things can't be done. Now we know who those people are...

I see it as good news as it’s what he did when he joined RB and exactly what he said he would do now. I don’t see why it has to spell disaster when those people have been replaced with better people, even one of Neweys from RB. AM was waiting on Newey to start work on 26 so those people leaving will have no real consequences in my opinion.

[AR3-GP]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

I think we have to be realistic. This does not indicate a championship winning 2026 project. You don't sack the whole aero department 3 months before track launch if things are going well. This ties into the previous that Newey gave when he said there were people that said certain things can't be done. Now we know who those people are...

There is no way Honda will be on par with MB PU wise considering they started later, but i can see AM having a very strong chassis already in 2026. Knowing Newey he will prioritize getting macro ideas right, so i'm expecting a "heavy" car at the start of the season for example.

Newey joined Red Bull in 2006. They didn't have a good chassis until 2009, and that was with infinite money. Newey is just one man and it takes time. Listen to what he is saying. Aston Martin's simulator is rubbish. He is fighting people in different departments stuck in old ways saying "it can't be done". Newey may have good ideas in his head but he is also reliant on the people and the processes which carry out the testing and the analysis. He cannot singlehandely make an F1 car. It takes a village. The right people and resources must be put into place. Before Mclaren's miraculous recovery, they spend 2 years putting the right people and infrastructure in place.

[RedNEO]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

Adrian is already fixing this team, exciting to see.

Exactly. I don’t see how this can be being spun as bad news when it was obvious AM had some bad apples who didn’t believe things could be done and it needed someone of Neweys caliber to spot them and deliver the blow. I love this news and it gives me more confidence going into 2026 than if nothing had changed

[AR3-GP]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

Adrian is already fixing this team, exciting to see.

Exactly. I don’t see how this can be being spun as bad news when it was obvious AM had some bad apples who didn’t believe things could be done and it needed someone of Neweys caliber to spot them. I love this news and it gives me more confidence going into 2026 than if nothing had changed

To be clear, of course it's good news that he founds things to improve. I'm just putting things into perspective considering the timeline that Alonso has given on his future in the sport. Yes there's a lot of people wanting to see Alonso do well including myself (win 33 and beyond), but I don't know if Aston Martin can work fast enough. Newey is telling us that it's Jaguar F1 all over again. He has only been in the team since March. After hearing what he has had to say about the team, anyone thinking they will have championship level car next year must also believe in fairies, unicorns, and magic. Aston Martin has never even made a gearbox before. No matter how good Newey's ideas are, it takes time to develop the technology and procedures that make a championship winning team.

[RedNEO]

Adrian is already fixing this team, exciting to see.

Exactly. I don’t see how this can be being spun as bad news when it was obvious AM had some bad apples who didn’t believe things could be done and it needed someone of Neweys caliber to spot them. I love this news and it gives me more confidence going into 2026 than if nothing had changed

To be clear, of course it's good news that he founds things to improve. I'm just putting things into perspective considering the timeline that Alonso has given on his future in the sport. Yes there's a lot of people wanting to see Alonso do well including myself, but I don't know if Aston Martin can work fast enough.

Well if the car is crap then won’t he just carry on into 27 as he said? People keep talking like Alonso is just going to become useless in the next 12 months. Alonso should be an example to those nay sayers who always bring up age and stuff constantly.

[RedNEO]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

Not surprised with Newey sniffing things out. Going for culture change.

Yeah that’s good. Newey wants things to happen quickly and this is how you do it.

(Side note - I had to use a vpn to understand why your profile picture has “the content is not viewable in your region”. Turns out its still exactly the same Honda logo you’ve had but now someone in the UK has decided I can’t see that anymore. )

[TyreSlip]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

I think we have to be realistic. This does not indicate a championship winning 2026 project. You don't sack the whole aero department 3 months before track launch if things are going well. This ties into the previous that Newey gave when he said there were people that said certain things can't be done. Now we know who those people are...

I agree. Newey recently said he discovered the same problems with Aston Martin's culture as he found when he went to Red Bull (staff there at the time had a Jaguar mentality of doing things). This is going to take several years to fix.

[Xyz22]

Huge technical shakeup seemingly initiated by Newey.

Blandin is gone as aerodynamics director. Seven staff members departing.

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/asto ... -overhaul/

I think we have to be realistic. This does not indicate a championship winning 2026 project. You don't sack the whole aero department 3 months before track launch if things are going well. This ties into the previous that Newey gave when he said there were people that said certain things can't be done. Now we know who those people are...

I agree. Newey recently said he discovered the same problems with Aston Martin's culture as he found when he went to Red Bull (staff there at the time had a Jaguar mentality of doing things). This is going to take several years to fix.

RB had 0 infrastructure in place when Newey joined and, on top of what you already highlighted, there was a very mature regulation set at the time. Producing a competitive car was an impossible task in that context. The first big reg change, Newey immediately made a competitive car.
Once again i'm expecting AM to have a very strong chassis next year, especially when they will be able to make it lighter because i'm 100% sure Newey will decide to give priority to aero instead of weight.

Newey is, after all, both the greatest F1 chief designer and Technical Director of all time by a big margin.

[RedNEO]

I think we have to be realistic. This does not indicate a championship winning 2026 project. You don't sack the whole aero department 3 months before track launch if things are going well. This ties into the previous that Newey gave when he said there were people that said certain things can't be done. Now we know who those people are...

I agree. Newey recently said he discovered the same problems with Aston Martin's culture as he found when he went to Red Bull (staff there at the time had a Jaguar mentality of doing things). This is going to take several years to fix.

RB had 0 infrastructure in place when Newey joined and, on top of what you already highlighted, there was a very mature regulation set at the time. Producing a competitive car was an impossible task in that context. The first big reg change, Newey immediately made a competitive car.
Once again i'm expecting AM to have a very strong chassis next year, especially when they will be able to make it lighter because i'm 100% sure Newey will decide to give priority to aero instead of weight.

Newey is, after all, both the greatest F1 chief designer and Technical Director of all time by a big margin.

I tend to agree with this. Infrastructure and such and such takes time. Culture change could happen at the drop of a hat if there is people who were being held back by those bad apples who thought it couldn’t be done. But on the other hand it could take longer if the mentality is now instilled in people but I guess we’ll find out next year. I have faith that Newey will be able to get that creative energy in AM over anyone else though.

[AR3-GP]

RB had 0 infrastructure in place when Newey joined and, on top of what you already highlighted, there was a very mature regulation set at the time. Producing a competitive car was an impossible task in that context. The first big reg change, Newey immediately made a competitive car.
Once again i'm expecting AM to have a very strong chassis next year, especially when they will be able to make it lighter because i'm 100% sure Newey will decide to give priority to aero instead of weight.

Newey is, after all, both the greatest F1 chief designer and Technical Director of all time by a big margin.

I think you're over-simplifying the work. There's a long way between what's in Newey's head, and what gets out to the racetrack. What is the basis for "they'll have a very strong chassis next year"? With what simulator? What cooling technology? What gearbox? The aerodynamics department was just let go. I think you aren't listening to what Newey has been saying. He practically called the team Jaguar F1 and you think in 3 months' time anything will be "strong"?

I'm not impressed by what Lawrence did before Adrian arrived. He's hired all these big names that Adrian has since fired (Fallows, Blandin, the others). He's bought all this technology that Adrian said is useless in it's current state. This is a bigger challenge than I anticipated. I didn't realize that all Lawrence did was some window dressing to scare the other teams but little substance. Now Adrian is fixing what should have already been sorted before he arrived.