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With names and surnames. Without cutting 'a hair'. Aston Martin will no longer return to Formula 1 as a mere bit player, something that seemed to be the case at the end of a disappointing 2024. The factory took off in 2023 and Fernando Alonso came close to victories (Monaco, perhaps, was the great opportunity). But in 2024 they hit rock bottom, only the Spaniard's miracles were the lifeline of a stricken ship. It is not acceptable. Neither for the driver who has shown the best hands in the Formula 1 nor for a factory that is ambitious in every corner. That is why their revolution has taken shape. Melbourne, at the start of 2025, is the first test. And in 2026, the dream and the objective arrives. "To be a team that wins the World Championship," repeat its main names.
The ambition is clear. This is logical from the vision of billionaire Lawrence Stroll as director. His obsession is for his son Lance to be champion, and before that he wants to give Fernando Alonso the best results with the green. To this end, the Silverstone-based team has strengthened its weakest positions, seeking progress and a dream that no one hides with the 2026 regulations to be exploited. "Expectations will be high," Alonso himself said on DAZN. It should be ed that in the new reality of the premier category there will be more freedom in aerodynamics, there is a big difference in the wings compared to the current ones and it will have a more powerful MGU-K.
First and last names
None of Aston Martin's changes are as important as the arrival of Adrian Newey. The most prestigious engineer of all time arrives as a great technical guru, capable of revolutionising any team, as he demonstrated in his last spell at Red Bull. Although he will not start working in a real way until March, his vision will be key to understanding the evolution of the 2025 car, the work with the wind tunnel that is already in an advanced phase of calibration and the search for success in 2026. There he will try to design a winning car, exploiting the new regulations to the limit and working with the modifications that will mark the new cars. In addition, his word is law. Without his , few things (if any) are done.
Newey is the backbone from which the other new developments emerge. One is Enrico Cardile, who has arrived from Ferrari as the new technical director. He comes after leaving the Italian factory in clear progression during 2024 and will be in charge of creating the car of the future. "He will oversee the architecture, design and construction," they said in their official statement. The mission is, with the addition of Honda as the power unit supplier, to soon adapt to the new regulations without neglecting 2025.
There is more. The visible heads of the last project (Mike Krack, Dan Fallows or Tom McCullogh) disappear from the front line. And they add another connoisseur, to the letter, of how to make a winning team, the British engineer Andy Cowell. He will be the team boss after his success with Mercedes. There he was the great leader of the success of the star in the hybrid era, as he was fundamental in the creation and development of its engines. On track came dominance with Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg. "Building a World Championship-winning team is our sole focus," he says. It has no ceiling.
Building a team to win the World Cup is our only goal
It will have the power to execute that revolution. From the organisational and implementation side of improvements, where Aston Martin must change in 2024 after a season in which it brought a lot and improved nothing race after race. To one of its strengths: the engine. With Honda, who have just dominated alongside Red Bull and Max Verstappen, as an ally. "We can't give Lance and Fernando a car that's fast on the straights, we have to give them a car that's fast in the corners, a car that's fast everywhere, a car that's faster than anyone else. Imagine if we gave them a winning car..." he confessed.
Alonso factor
And then there's the Fernando Alonso factor. No one doubts his involvement or his ability to remain among the best. He will be given, theoretically, competent tools to face the battle for everything. And he will not fail, something that in F1 they know. "He is relentless. If you give him the opportunity to win, he will not mess it up. If they give him the chance, he will get it. Don't worry," Paul Monaghan, Red Bull's chief engineer, told DAZN