Adrian Newey’s first Aston Martin F1 car made its debut on day four of the Barcelona Shakedown, even if it only managed a few laps before running into trouble.
Aston Martin had already informed fans that their car would arrive late to testing, and it didn’t show up at the circuit until Wednesday night. The first sighting of the car on track came near the end of Thursday’s session.
The wait only added to the excitement surrounding Newey’s vision for the 2026 regulations. He remains widely seen as one of the most influential minds in F1 design history.
The team isn’t officially unveiling its 2026 challenger until 9 February, so this early version ran in a black placeholder livery rather than their familiar green.
Karun Chandhok quick to praise Aston Martin sidepods and rear suspension
Aston Martin shared a black-and-white, partially obscured photo of the AMR26 on social media to mark its first laps.
In the eyes of F1 pundit Karun Chandhok, the car certainly lived up to the hype. Writing on X, Chandhok said, ‘Look at those sidepods!!’, accompanied by two mind-blown emojis.
The car’s rear suspension also drew comments. Chandhok followed up with: “Err…. That rear suspension is going to get other teams talking… and thinking!!”
The earlier start to testing means teams have more time to analyse each other’s designs before the season begins in Melbourne on 8 March. While Newey’s Aston Martin will draw plenty of attention, he’ll be doing some studying of his own too.
Newey might also be keeping an eye on Red Bull’s RB22, which has been one of the most talked-about cars heading into this season.
Lance Stroll brings out red flag during Aston Martin debut
Lance Stroll took the wheel for the AMR26’s first outing, but the session was short-lived. After just four slow laps, he stopped at the end of the pit lane as he attempted to head out again. The team was able to wheel it back without too much trouble.
The stoppage brought out a red flag that ended that part of testing.
Aston Martin haven’t shared what caused the stoppage, and given this test is private, there probably won’t be an official explanation any time soon. But they weren’t alone in facing problems. McLaren also hit issues on their second day, completing only 48 laps due to a fuel system fault.
Despite likely finishing with one of the lower lap counts in Barcelona, Aston will still have logged more miles than Williams, who didn’t run at all. There are still two more tests scheduled before lights out in Melbourne.
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