Aston Martin will face an important year in 2025 when it finally gains the influence of Adrian Newey on their car design.
Newey will join the team in March after leaving Red Bull last year and will be largely focusing on their 2026 car, but will have some influence on their developments for 2025.
Aston Martin spent much of last year trapped in an ‘old school obsession’ according to F1 insiders, which saw them chasing downforce rather than improving their overall package.
After learning a lot from their mistakes in 2024, the team is hopeful that their 2025 challenger will produce better results and enable them to close the gap to the teams at the front of the grid.
Aston Martin has lifted the covers off the AMR25 ahead of F1 pre-season testing, and according to a report by Motorsport.es, the team has made an ‘extreme’ change that’s a direct copy of Ferrari’s F1 car.
Aston Martin copies sidepod shape of Ferrari
It is expected that McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari will be the benchmark teams with Mercedes also not far behind, while Aston Martin will be further back as the fifth-fastest team.
Ferrari has made a significant change to their front suspension, which puts them in line with Red Bull and McLaren, while Aston Martin has copied their sidepod shape on the AMR25.
According to the report, Aston Martin has taken its sidepod design to the ‘extreme’ by copying Ferrari’s ‘bathtub’ sidepod that swoops inward towards the bodywork.
The team also has Red Bull-style cannons either side of the car, something the team ditched midway through last season after they went a different design direction.
Aston Martin make car more ‘benign’ after feedback from Fernando Alonso
Aston Martin spent the latter stages of the 2024 season trying to fix the inherent issue they had with their floor, with Alonso and Lance Stroll running back-to-back tests in some races.
For this year, team principal Andy Cowell has said the team has focused on making the car more ‘benign’ and predictable to drive.
“For this year’s car we’ve really taken on board the lessons and feedback from last season. We’ve focused on creating a more driveable car for Lance and Fernando and we’ve pushed hard to make it more benign,” said Cowell.
“We expect it to be a tight and competitive field from the get-go in Australia, so we know it won’t be easy. Our aims are realistic with a view to how we can continually improve in all areas, especially as we, like all teams, approach a vital shake-up of the regulations in 2026.”
Aston Martin took part in a shakedown of the AMR25 ahead of F1 pre-season testing in Bahrain, where they will have extensive hours to test their new car with Alonso and Stroll.
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