Aston dismisses Honda delay speculation as Newey takes action.

      "He was an additional engineer assisting our team."

      Aston Martin has discreetly refuted a rumor circulating in the paddock regarding Honda's preparedness for the initial pre-season tests of 2026. This theory, brought up in Qatar by former Alpine chief Marcin Budkowski, who is now with Eleven Sports, suggested that Aston would publicly attribute any delay to Adrian Newey needing more time on the car, while privately attributing the problem to Honda. The team denied this assertion and did not provide any further comments.

      Newey’s unexpected promotion to team principal for 2026 surprised many in the paddock, and his presence in Qatar—only his second appearance at a 2025 race—aligned with a notably strong performance by Fernando Alonso, who finished seventh.

      "He hasn’t officially started yet," Alonso remarked to AS. "We’ve seen him in meetings and addressing technical matters over the weekend. However, he served as an additional engineer for us, providing another viewpoint on the setup and strategy.

      "It was impressive to witness the focus and determination he embodies, always seeking performance in every detail."

      While some speculate that Newey might not possess the temperament suited for a public-facing team principal position, Alonso disagreed.

      "It’s intriguing because he’s quite active," Alonso stated. "He attended other races to observe, listen, and gain a comprehensive overview. But now he is deeply involved—the meetings are longer, and at their conclusion, he often queries two or three specific individuals and sometimes even the drivers about particular points."

      "I believe he’ll assist us in improving because everything he suggests makes a lot of sense and is aligned with a performance-driven perspective," continued the two-time champion.

      "Often the briefings extend for a while, where we discuss our impressions of the car, but we don’t always reach conclusions on how to enhance its speed. He has those conclusions in mind and evaluates them, so I think he’ll contribute to our development."

      Aston Martin's challenges in 2025 have been significant, with Alonso reiterating how challenging the AMR25 has been to handle.

      "The car is at times completely undrivable, far more challenging than it appears on television," he shared with DAZN.

      Nonetheless, P7 in Qatar was a rare positive outcome. "Happy? Wow, can you believe it! I’ve only scored—what?—30 points all season, and I earned 8 here," Alonso laughed.

      "Throughout all sessions, we were in the top 10, and during the race, considering the difficulty in overtaking on this track and with everyone having committed to the same strategy for stops, we simply had to hold our positions, and it worked out."

      Yet the Spaniard acknowledged that the overall scenario remains bleak. "It hasn’t been a memorable year. We’ve faced significant challenges. Even today, if all cars had a clear track, I believe we would have finished much further down," he explained.

      "We qualify well on Saturdays, but on Sundays, particularly on tracks where overtaking is feasible, we gradually lose positions."