2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[FNTC]

When they sent Cowell to Japan to deal with Honda and made Newey TP, he alluded to this already then. He said he was going to be at the first races anyway. So it never sounded like it was going to be permanent.

[zoroastar]

I'm quite sure it was Honda management's job to manage Honda. I can't how it's AM's fault, if all they was told that everything's fine and AM leadership only got wind of Honda falling back on targets is via leaked rumors. If indeed that is how it happened, it's dishonest and a disrespectful.



There were also rumors, that Honda made last minute changed to the engine design. So who knows...

yeah this whole narrative of the "honda babysitter clause" is almost hysterical to me. what other formula 1 engine supplier gets a pass for under-performing because the guys that are in charge of designing the chassis didnt help them enough? honda is one of the largest, most accomplished motor manufacturers on the planet. building great engines is literally what they are famous for. in hindsight, yeah, they obviously needed all the help from aston that they couldve recieved, but i can see a better argument that aston had a monumental task at hand to make a competitive chassis with 4 months less time than the other teams. it would be nice if "the great engine manufacturer" could cover the power unit part of the equation. that is what they do right?? even if aston was told that honda were going to shuffle their talented NEW engineers into the project (doubtful they were told about that) and send the ones with f1 experience to other parts of the company, aston wouldve naturally thought that honda must know what theyre doing. otherwise, the fact that they would do that just sounds really amateur to me. i wonder if the chassis happens to suck, would honda get blamed? it seems to me like a serious case of an engine supplier half assing their project. always with one foot in and one foot out of the sport. they hopped back in last minute and didnt get their sh#$ together until they already had a disaster on their hands

if this sounds cynical, then i have accomplished something today

Look at it this way...what other WORKS team has PU manufacturer 9600KM and 9 hrs away ? ZERO. All the other teams are right there, next to the PU manufacture with babysitting.

It isn't a pass, it just normal management if you don't want surprises ....

see I agree with this ... They should have had a team of guys there from the day they signed with a translator working with them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1KLkS-qofdM&t=622s

yeah i already saw that. its still treating honda as if they are children who havent ever done this before. its obvious that them being across the planet caused a lot of this. but the biggest problem is that honda do f1 on a whim. every few years their upper management decide to quit and then jump back in, in the middle of a new rule set and think that they can be good enough to be competiive. and like i said, start the new project with a bunch of rookies that have never done it before. if thats how they treat their partners, then yeah, i guess they do need to be treated like a bunch of amatuers that need to be babysitted. but who would ever imagine that thats how they would set up an f1 team. its not even logical to most people. its good for honda and pretty selfish for anybody that has to deal with the ramifications.

[TyreSlip]

When they sent Cowell to Japan to deal with Honda and made Newey TP, he alluded to this already then. He said he was going to be at the first races anyway. So it never sounded like it was going to be permanent.

I was under the impression that Cowell would get his job back as soon as he cleaned up the mess with Honda.

[AR3-GP]

When they sent Cowell to Japan to deal with Honda and made Newey TP, he alluded to this already then. He said he was going to be at the first races anyway. So it never sounded like it was going to be permanent.

I was under the impression that Cowell would get his job back as soon as he cleaned up the mess with Honda.

Nothing has been straightforward at Aston Martin.

[AR3-GP]

Both senior management figures at Audi, Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley, are also believed to have negotiated with Aston Martin and, while Binotto is said to have turned down a switch, an offer made to Wheatley is yet to be addressed. Sources have suggested that, while Wheatley is said to be very happy with his Audi principal role having swapped to Hinwil, personal life considerations could trigger a desire to return to living in the UK.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/adrian-ne ... pal-search

[diffuser]

Rumours are that Newey sucking is imminent but Lobato said they are looking at a team principal. So mixing both rumours i would say Newey is going to stay but not as top boss but more to be in charge of his area while a new team principal takes the lead

I'm not sure you have a firm grasp of the situation.

#1 Newey has owner status at AMR.
#2 He said last fall, with regards to the TP job, "atleast for the first few races" meaning it was never his intent to stay as TP for a long term.
#3 His status in "#1" mean nobody can over rule him on anything technical.
#4 "#3" means he will be top technical boss no matter who the new TP is.
#5 The only thing AN sucked at was diplomacy.
#6 If you need someone just to talk to the media, why not let Krack do it. He's very good at it.

struture..

    Adrian Newey
    /     |     \
Cowell Cardille TP

[NAPI10]

Both senior management figures at Audi, Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley, are also believed to have negotiated with Aston Martin and, while Binotto is said to have turned down a switch, an offer made to Wheatley is yet to be addressed. Sources have suggested that, while Wheatley is said to be very happy with his Audi principal role having swapped to Hinwil, personal life considerations could trigger a desire to return to living in the UK.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/adrian-ne ... pal-search

As engine shenanigans extended to 2027 ; something new to discuss at AM

[diffuser]

Both senior management figures at Audi, Mattia Binotto and Jonathan Wheatley, are also believed to have negotiated with Aston Martin and, while Binotto is said to have turned down a switch, an offer made to Wheatley is yet to be addressed. Sources have suggested that, while Wheatley is said to be very happy with his Audi principal role having swapped to Hinwil, personal life considerations could trigger a desire to return to living in the UK.

https://www.planetf1.com/news/adrian-ne ... pal-search

As engine shenanigans extended to 2027 ; something new to discuss at AM

It isn't something new. Binotto interviewed for the Job that Cowell got. Some time in 2025 they asked to join too for some reason I don't remember why. So this isn't anything from 2026. I don't know about Wheatley. I wouldn't be surprised if Wheatley iosn't old new too though.

[diffuser]

When they sent Cowell to Japan to deal with Honda and made Newey TP, he alluded to this already then. He said he was going to be at the first races anyway. So it never sounded like it was going to be permanent.

I was under the impression that Cowell would get his job back as soon as he cleaned up the mess with Honda.

Yes yes I agree ..this is true. I had the same impression. Maybe he's not coming back now ?

[Leon Kennedy]

Ok practically official, proposal from the FIA to motorists to bring forward the ADUO already in Miami. If only Mercedes objects, the ADUO will already be permitted. Honda has been working on the new specification probably since November and plus the month of break, a new season should start already in Miami for AM in terms of performance (they are over 4%). If the FIA allows further safety-related changes, they'll be an added advantage. Whatever we bring to Miami will be what's possible this year, so let's hope so. After that they will focus on 2027 (if the Miami upgrades don't work out, I doubt they will be competitive).

[Richard C]

#1 Newey has owner status at AMR.
#2 He said last fall, with regards to the TP job, "atleast for the first few race" meaning it was never his intent to stay as TP for a long term.
#3 His status in "#1" mean nobody can over rule him on anything technical.
#4 "#3" means he will be top boss no matter who the new TP is.
#5 The only thing AN sucked at was diplomacy.

struture..

    Adrian Newey
    /     |     \
Cowell Cardille TP

To me... that has significant risk of disfunction. What experienced TP would want to operate in those conditions? What if Newey not having someone to tell him "no" is part of the problem?

If he IS a master manager in addition to supreme technologist and is able to look at his own desires dispassionately and keep himself under control then maybe this will work.

Richard

[Redragon]

Rumours are that Newey sucking is imminent but Lobato said they are looking at a team principal. So mixing both rumours i would say Newey is going to stay but not as top boss but more to be in charge of his area while a new team principal takes the lead

I'm not sure you have a firm grasp of the situation.

#1 Newey has owner status at AMR.
#2 He said last fall, with regards to the TP job, "atleast for the first few races" meaning it was never his intent to stay as TP for a long term.
#3 His status in "#1" mean nobody can over rule him on anything technical.
#4 "#3" means he will be top technical boss no matter who the new TP is.
#5 The only thing AN sucked at was diplomacy.
#6 If you need someone just to talk to the media, why not let Krack do it. He's very good at it.

struture..

    Adrian Newey
    /     |     \
Cowell Cardille TP

As i said i read today the rumours that Newey will be out of Aston Martin and it is imminent but i think that article is confusing for what it is understood and what Lobato said that they are looking for a team principal. I think that is the confusion. But the article said Stroll senior suck him and it was inminent the announcement. Also i just got another article on my Facebook feed that the rumours is Horner the new team principal

[Honda Porsche fan]

Posted on another thread...

How many people here are Japanese vs westerners ?

It's obvious this is a cultural issue (Japan, west) and a philosophical issue.

As long as Honda does it all in Japan with the Japanese way and Honda's philosophy of using F1 as an educational tool for their employees and have large turnover i.e. bring in workers to gain knowledge on F1 for 5 to 6 years and move them on to another part of the company and bring in new engineers..... this cycle will continue. Honda will start off slow, people claim this is all a disaster, then Honda starts to get competitive and then dominates for 4 to 6 years and then boom, big down turn, and it starts all over again. That is how Honda's corporate structure works. You are beholden to their corporate decision making from the boardroom. It's not a smaller British UK aero design office.

It's going to require a lot of patience from Aston Martin and fans of Honda.

Mercedes decided to have their entire F1 program (engine, chassis) be made 100% in the UK, mostly by British staff, not in Germany.

If Red Bull can get it right with their own in-house engine program with assistance from Ford, they will be all set too.


I'll throw this question out there, should Aston Martin hire Christian Horner as Team Principle and let Adrian Newey just stick to aero/chassis design like at Red Bull ?

[Leon Kennedy]

Posted on another thread...

How many people here are Japanese vs westerners ?

It's obvious this is a cultural issue (Japan, west) and a philosophical issue.

As long as Honda does it all in Japan with the Japanese way and Honda's philosophy of using F1 as an educational tool for their employees and have large turnover i.e. bring in workers to gain knowledge on F1 for 5 to 6 years and move them on to another part of the company and bring in new engineers..... this cycle will continue. Honda will start off slow, people claim this is all a disaster, then Honda starts to get competitive and then dominates for 4 to 6 years and then boom, big down turn, and it starts all over again. That is how Honda's corporate structure works. You are beholden to their corporate decision making from the boardroom. It's not a smaller British UK aero design office.

It's going to require a lot of patience from Aston Martin and fans of Honda.

Mercedes decided to have their entire F1 program (engine, chassis) be made 100% in the UK, mostly by British staff, not in Germany.

If Red Bull can get it right with their own in-house engine program with assistance from Ford, they will be all set too.


I'll throw this question out there, should Aston Martin hire Christian Horner as Team Principle and let Adrian Newey just stick to aero/chassis design like at Red Bull ?

Audi makes the engine in Neuburg, Germany, while the car is assembled in Hinwil, Switzerland.I don't think there are any such engine problems. Red Bull won four championships with it, by the way, not to mention those won in the previous era. Let's not try to justify a bad job with the distance which is penalizing but very relatively. I agree with you about the personnel issue and also about the appointment of Chris Horner, it would be ideal.

[ElliotDelgado]

I believe Newey has an IDEA what needs to be done.

Both parties will be involved in the fix.

Agreed! i believe the entire team understands that improvements need to happen on both sides.
lets see what happens in Japan