Aston Martin are one of the teams that could cause an upset in 2026. The British squad have the resources, facilities and quality of engineers required to become front-runners.
Evidently, this does not automatically translate into success. A key question is whether the Honda engine will perform and set itself as a benchmark in the next regulatory cycle.
Integrating engineering heavyweights like Adrian Newey will also be a challenge – a process team owner Lawrence Stroll believes will take time.
Stroll confident in Aston and Honda, but calls for patience
Since Lawrence Stroll bought Aston Martin, the team have been described as potential threats to the established order at the front.
An electric start to the 2023 season, whilst being short-lived, was early evidence of Aston’s ambitions. That said, the team’s results in the last two years have been disappointing.
Poor mid-season development in 2024 and a lacklustre package across 2025 triggered a series of changes at the Silverstone-based operation. Easily the most recognised was the acquisition of Adrian Newey.
Alongside former Ferrari Technical Director Enrico Cardile, Newey leads a very top-heavy engineering group at Aston Martin.
Regarding the Honda engine, the Japanese manufacturer confirmed its partnership with Aston in 2023. Given their experience and Championship triumphs with Red Bull, Honda are seen as a possible threat to Mercedes power units.
Despite this wider narrative, Lawrence Stroll insists the Aston Martin project needs time:
“First was putting together the facilities, [the] most important was putting together the team of people. Obviously, getting Adrian Newey to join was monumental.
“He’s been with us since the beginning of March. We have Andy Cowell, Enrico Cardile, plus hundreds of other people.
“We have Honda being our power unit partner. Being a works team for the first time in our life is a whole different experience.
“The whole team’s forming into place, and we’re looking forward next year to a huge rule and regulation change. The biggest challenge now is putting everything together, making it all happen.
“I’m quite confident it will, but you have to have the patience.”
Putting together a quickly evolving team
At least in theory, Aston Martin tick all the boxes heading into 2026. In contract to previous campaigns, the Silverstone-based squad have all the tools needed to impose themselves on the grid.
Simultaneously, there will be a steep learning curve if they are to achieve any success.
The decision in November to move Andy Cowell away from the position of team principal to focus on Honda’s engine development – temporarily moving Newey into the team principal role – is evidence that Aston are still figuring out how to optimise their structure.
Signing big-name engineers is positive in isolation, but requires some time for everyone to assimilate.
In this sense, much of Aston’s success relies on Adrian Newey. The 66-year-old was already in charge of the team’s development for next season before it was announced he would team principal.
The title of team principal is expected to be temporary. Since Newey would have attended the first races of 2026 anyway, giving him this position until a more suitable long-term candidate was found does little to impact Aston’s development.
Still, it should be noted that the British team are putting together several pieces of the puzzle. Should they unlock the potential of their engineering and engine departments, Aston could be dark horses in 2026.
Of course, this will be a huge undertaking – which is why Lawrence Stroll is prepared for hiccups along the way.
NEW: Mercedes warn several teams have ‘done very little’ on 2026 cars
Main photo: Zak Mauger/LAT Images (Aston Martin F1 Media Portal)