2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[diffuser]

And for the people and media framing it as if Newey was fired or demoted, here is from when he was made TP in November, from the 2025 team topic:

Newey saying Cowell volunteered to move to the power unit integration role, and it left the TP role open. And I just noticed he said "Since I am going to be doing all the EARLY RACES anyway" he did it himself. So when does the actual Horner gardening leave end? Very interesting that he said early races.

They sent Cowell to Japan to deal with the Honda problems back then, so just made Newey TP until they could find a replacement. I was thinking Horner at the time, but maybe he either is not accepted by Newey, or maybe his demands were too high. Wheatley seems like a solid enough TP, if true.

The TP job is different at every team. The responsibilities at AMR aren't gonna be what they are at Merc. Kind of surprised that Wheatley accepted the job after joining AUDI not long ago. I would have though that AN, Cowell and Cardile are the 3 salaries exempt from CAP. That would cap how much they could pay Wheatley. Plus you're answering to AN at AMR, so is it truly a TP job?

[Kamel]

All these managerial roles: boss, head, CEO, team principal, director.
I don't give a sheet about these speculations.
I'm more concerned with the solutions, minds, and resourcefulness of ordinary engineers, designers and aerodynamicists for a competitive car

[TyreSlip]

All these managerial roles: boss, head, CEO, team principal, director.
I don't give a sheet about these speculations.
I'm more concerned with the solutions, minds, and resourcefulness of ordinary engineers, designers and aerodynamicists for a competitive car

Musical chairs in management is all Aston Martin is known for nowadays.

[V10FURY]

All these managerial roles: boss, head, CEO, team principal, director.
I don't give a sheet about these speculations.
I'm more concerned with the solutions, minds, and resourcefulness of ordinary engineers, designers and aerodynamicists for a competitive car

Musical chairs in management is all Aston Martin is known for nowadays.

Agreed this will be 4 team principles for the team in just over a year! I think Wheatley is a solid choice and obviously has a good relationship with AN, but at the end of the day Lawrence Stroll is the team principal. Getting Newey back behind the scenes to sort out the car is a good call and is necessary to fix the issues they are facing. Now as for the TP position is concerned, if that is Cowell, Krack or Wheatley at this time, I don’t think it will make any difference to this teams situation at all. Only Honda and Newey can fix this diabolical disaster they are in.

[FNTC]

Agreed that this is not changing much, it just makes Newey have more time to focus on the car and not media, and Cowell focusing on Honda. But it is probably not too far off from what Wheatley is doing at Audi. Binotto etc runs the actual program there, like Newey, I think.

[SealTheRealDeal]

They should make Lance the TP. Just imagine his laconic answers being given in response to the sort of questions that TPs are asked XD

[AR3-GP]

Exciting for AMR and Jonathan Wheatley.

[diffuser]

Agreed that this is not changing much, it just makes Newey have more time to focus on the car and not media, and Cowell focusing on Honda. But it is probably not too far off from what Wheatley is doing at Audi. Binotto etc runs the actual program there, like Newey, I think.

me 3

[AR3-GP]

Now can Wheatley smooth over the PR mess that's been made with Honda? That's the first order of business. Bridge mending

[Leon Kennedy]

Now can Wheatley smooth over the PR mess that's been made with Honda? That's the first order of business. Bridge mending

Relations are good, there are already AM members working at Sakura. Wheatley and Horner were the two best nominees. Cowell didn't come in to be team principal but to be CEO, Newey technical director of develop and now Wheatley team principal.


We finally have a full staff, hopefully it won't take long for the gardening

[FNTC]

It's not official yet, may depend on negotiations on gardening leave

[diffuser]

It's not official yet, may depend on negotiations on gardening leave

motorsport say it's official

[FNTC]

https://www.grandprix247.com/f1-teams-n ... -principal

Aston Martin responded swiftly with a firm denial, stating the leadership structure remains unchanged: “The team will not be engaging in media speculation about its senior leadership team. Adrian Newey continues to lead the team as Team Principal and Managing Technical Partner.”
Audi also distanced itself from the reports, offering no confirmation of any move involving Wheatley: “There is no official update from our side at this point in time and we do not comment on speculation.”

Maybe they have agreed, but it's definitely not official.

[peewon]

Honda will start off slow, people claim this is all a disaster

I would personally consider not being able to finish races a disaster so anyone who is not personally invested in maintaining Honda's reputation will also consider it a disaster. As was the case with Mclaren. Its not a "claim".

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.

Honda has never "dominated", at least in Modern F1. Honda has never created a performance moat or decisive advantage for a team to win titles like Mercedes did in 2014 or this ruleset. This is just a fact. They have been part of winning teams where they did their part but no team has won because of Honda. They reached parity with Mercedes in the previous regulations after many seasons of unchanged PU rules. Even in 2021 Mercedes was dominating on power tracks. People can watch the Brazilian GP to realize the performance gap. The following seasons were all down to superior aero package of the Red Bull. We know the performance figures.

[mzso]

The idea that they are going to fix this by Japan seems supremely optimistic to me. There's no indication they've identified the core issue yet and engines have very long lead times. Honda has previous form for over-promising and under-delivering on "quick fixes". At the start of 2015 they were talking about podiums in the second half of the season, in reality they were stalling for time and trying to hide how far behind they really were. Today the vibes are eerily similar.

I listened to an interview with Mark Slade (former race engineer for Mika, Kimi, Alonso, and Michael), he suggested that these issues were going to set the project back by two years. For me that is a more realistic evaluation than what is being mentioned in here.

On the other hand bringing forward the engine design intended for one year later, when the F1 program was cancelled turned out really well.

I agree. Nothing until 2027.

ADOU offers more freedom than what's possible between years.

In 2020 they were in a good position though, they had sorted out the big issues with the engine a couple of years earlier and they were only lacking a bit of power to the front. The crew was experienced and knew what they were doing. The project now reminds me more of 2015. A lot of major issues and a lot of inexperienced people.

ADUO offers more freedom to bring upgrades but the crucial bit is do you actually have significant upgrades to bring? The idea that Honda has a true second spec ready to go by race 6 I suspect is wishful thinking. Maybe later in the year, but will that then compromise the 2027 engine and making more fundamental changes? Adrian was alluding to it in Melbourne, they need to solve the vibration but they can’t lose sight of 2027 either, the priority needs to be a decent engine for next year.

I'm sure they will use both upgrades. How substantial it will be is a different matter. I don't know the timing, how long can they defer, or how early can they deploy an update. A vibration fix they'd want ASAP, but they might want to take their time with a performance upgrade.

Consider that any improvements in 2026 will be used in 2027, so it's as if you're carrying over next year's spec. The point is that ADUO allows for two performance upgrades, I don't think they can do much anyway

I don't even think it makes sense to think of whichever year's engine. The engine formula is to remain for years to come. If I know right to a limited degree even the top engine can improve year over year, but they can always push reliability updates even during the year. And while someone has ADUO it's just continuous development.