This forum contains threads to discuss teams themselves. Anything not technical about the cars, including restructuring, performances etc belongs here.
In the months after Newey had left RB and was on gardening leave, it's hard to believe he didn't have some lunches and dinners with AM engineers giving them general directions and concepts he wanted them to begin to pursue--the general direction and theories he wanted to explore and exploit for the car. Certainly not sharing software, but certainly drawing on some napkins, talking concepts, and beginning the ethos. Just my opinion.
I'm not sure how they track all this but Cardile tried. Ferrari ended up taking him to court. A judge then said to STOP or else!
You are still working with a 3 months delay and you still need to develop and produce all the parts, so it's still extremely challenging and they just built the car at the last minute.
In any event, i'm not expecting the AMR to be competitive for the win or even the podium from the get go mainly because i think the weight will be an issue. Newey main focus was on the chassis and suspension layout, which are the key areas you want to get right in order to keep developing without making huge changes yoy.
What would prevent him from working on the car before actually being employed?
I know Ferrari sued Cardille to not work with Aston Martin. But again, if they chose to work on a car while unemployed how could they have stopped either of them? Hire people to spy on and/or physically stop them from entering the Aston Martin premises?
They can't police to that degree. Need not be at AM headquarters--could be anywhere. By the time Newey arrives they already know the concepts, know the general direction, and are already running full send, day 1.
In my opinion it will take a miracle for AMR to be competing at the front this season.
1) Wind tunnel correlation. No short cut because every wind tunnel is unique
2) Lack of team running Honda engine mean less track information for development.
3) Weak drivers pairing.
4) Inexperienced team principal - Great designer doesnt mean great leader.
5) Restructuring of organisation and staffs movement is expected with AN.
I don't think 1-2 is much of an issue. The tunnel has been working since April and the engine surely ran on many simulations. On good driver is enough to score good results to a team, Verstappen has been proving this for a few years now. Team principal status has little relevance in this stage of intense development, and organization for such development. Plus apparently everyone expects him to be replaced as principal during the year. Otherwise not sure what restructuring and movement has been left to do seeing the past years.
Newey is only TP on paper so he is fully in charge. He will delegate the politics and media parts of the role to other members and focus on the car development, I am sure. He is not going to be a Horner type TP.
From yesterday's interview:
This is your first car as a Team Principal. Does that change your mindset?
"I became a Team Principal towards the end of last year. In many ways, to me, it's simply a title. The role within the team is to try to provide a direction, an ethos, a culture, that we all work by. I try to lead by example, where possible. But really, it’s about developing everybody; we're trying to develop at all levels so that we're working well together, which then means we'll get the best out of each other.”
And is that working?
"I'll tell you later. [Laughs.] Ask me that question again at the end of the year."
Incredible what Newey is doing already in this team.
Having the car in the wind tunnel only in April and being able to develop the car so much in key areas highlights why he is so ahead of the others. Someone else would have made a very safe design like Cadillac to be ready for the start of the season.
It could also be that a new team like Cadillac built a basic car to invest in development when a proven concept on track is clear.
A very tightly packaged car Like the AM obviously is the way to go for that. Newey actually mentioned it in that interview. It's not impossible that the Cadillac is secretly very tightly packaged, but I doubt it.
Jesus, so much negativity and scepticism here, you guys are truly and utterly cooked. Wait at least until the first race before all the doom and gloom takes over... my god in heaven, 41 pages on the team thread and we are not even in Australia... Let Newey cook, give Honda a chance, and let the first few races pass before declaring "it's over, we are done!" ...
Outside of the fact that they have supplied F2 with sustainable fuel, I don't think this is anything more than Newey doing a sponsor/part owner(?) advert
Outside of the fact that they have supplied F2 with sustainable fuel, I don't think this is anything more than Newey doing a sponsor/part owner(?) advert
Although they haven't developed fuels specifically for Formula 1, they already do so in a very similar category, and there's no denying they have more experience than those who have never done it before.
Jesus, so much negativity and scepticism here, you guys are truly and utterly cooked. Wait at least until the first race before all the doom and gloom takes over... my god in heaven, 41 pages on the team thread and we are not even in Australia... Let Newey cook, give Honda a chance, and let the first few races pass before declaring "it's over, we are done!" ...
the car is an MP4-18 for sure.
Last edited by FrukostScones on 04 Feb 2026, 22:36, edited 2 times in total.
What are the chances of 'Yellow' car? or at least few shades, lines of 'Yellow'?
I'd like it if they incorporated more AMR yellow/lime green than just the usual pinstripe, but the show car at the Honda engine launch doesn't give much hope in that regard.
Definately not the actual livery, but I imagine something big like "the car's primary colour will be bitter lemon not British racing green" would be communicated to Honda.
Hehe, I think for the first time we are leading in the number of messages. So, in terms of advertising impact, Newey has managed to capture the fans' attention.
I like how he has approached the car's design. It's something different and hasn't disappointed me.
What worries me the most, aside from a bunch of other almost unpredictable things, are the tires because it's something basic and I also think they are too influenced by the manufacturer, the FIA, etc. They are smaller and I think they will generally be softer too. They could end up being a headache for the teams.
What I look forward to the most is that AM will be a robust, predictable and fast car. But we'll see that after a few races. In the meantime, I will happily read your speculations about everything-everything; this is a good forum. Thanks for that.
Believe half of what you see and none of what you hear.
Jesus, so much negativity and scepticism here, you guys are truly and utterly cooked. Wait at least until the first race before all the doom and gloom takes over... my god in heaven, 41 pages on the team thread and we are not even in Australia... Let Newey cook, give Honda a chance, and let the first few races pass before declaring "it's over, we are done!" ...
the car is an MP4-18 for sure.
The internally nick named banana car, so flimsy was its chassis.
Edit: I'd love to provide a quote, but it was said by Pedro de la Rosa, who was McLaren test driver at the time, in an interview under paywall (DAZN), and not available anymore
