Aston Martin didn’t have the smoothest start to pre-season testing in Bahrain on Wednesday, completing the fewest laps of any team.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll completed 90 laps between them on the first day of the 2025 season.
In contrast, Haas driver Esteban Ocon managed to run for 88 laps in half the time, highlighting that things didn’t quite go to plan for Aston Martin.
Neither driver will be too concerned by their lap times at this stage, with qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix the first time they’ll be relevant.
Aston Martin have spent the last two seasons slowly falling down the pecking order with crucial updates hampering their drivers rather than aiding them.
Andy Cowell has taken over as team principal from Mike Krack as a result and a restructure of the team’s senior staff has been overseen by Lawrence Stroll to try and resolve their issues.
Excitement is growing within Aston Martin for the arrival of Adrian Newey from Red Bull with the hope that he’ll give them the advantage over their rivals that they desire.
Aston Martin are saving their wind tunnel time for Newey and while his main focus will be the 2026 car, it’s hard to see him not playing a part in trying to improve this year’s machine.
David Croft – speaking on the Sky Sports F1 live stream of pre-season testing – has recalled one story about Newey’s first visit to the Aston Martin factory that highlights his dedication to the cause.
David Croft says Adrian Newey requested a bed in his Aston Martin office
Croft was commentating alongside Rachel Brookes and she explained: “If you speak to anybody at Aston Martin and you listen to them or you feel the energy that is there at the moment ahead of his arrival and the way people are speaking about it and the way the people there seem to be reenergized inspired by the fact that he’s coming, you can see just what sort of influence he brings.
“It’s more than just what he does on a car.”
Croft continued: “I had a fabulous story about Adrian Newey during the discussions with Aston Martin, you know when he was rumoured to have gone on a tour to the factory.
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“They closed it down, they took him to the design office, showing him where he would be, where his office would be, where the drawing board and all of that and he asked, ‘Where do I sleep?’
“They were like, what do you mean where are you going to sleep? At home probably.
“No, no, no, no sometimes I’ll be here working late in the night, it could get to two o’clock in the morning, there’s no point going home, I’ll have a little snooze and I’ll get back to it again.
“So they had to make provisions to have somewhere nearby.”
“That struck me though as a man that at that stage who was already thinking way beyond the paycheck and right, okay, this is something I’m very interested in. And also an insight into the way Adrian Newey works.”
Adrian Newey already has concerns about Aston Martin’s driver line-up
Newey has worked with some of the best drivers in Formula 1 and will have to quickly work out what Alonso and Stroll want from their cars.
The two drivers have vastly different amounts of experience and success in Formula 1 with the Spaniard a two-time world champion and Stroll still chasing his first Grand Prix win.
Newey is said to have concerns about Stroll and whether he’s quick enough to achieve Aston Martin’s goals regardless of how fast the car he builds is.
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Max Verstappen has been linked with Aston Martin and the opportunity to reunite with Newey and Honda might appeal to the Dutchman if Red Bull’s next generation of cars aren’t up to scratch.
That sort of move is likely to still be a long way off, but Stroll Snr has already shown that he’s willing to invest heavily in Aston Martin’s success.
