With Adrian Newey through the door and at work, Aston Martin “can have a very competitive” car come F1 2026.

That is the verdict cast by two-time F1 World Champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who believes his fellow two-time champion, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso, is very much still at the peak of his powers and ready to deliver with an improved Aston Martin challenger.

Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin: F1 2026 title challengers?

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

There is potential for a major shake-up to the pecking order come F1 2026, at which point new chassis and engine regulations will come into force.

And Aston Martin will be an intriguing team to keep an eye on, as F1 design guru Adrian Newey – who arrived in March after his departure from Red Bull – is focused solely on the 2026 Aston Martin, which will be powered by a Honda engine, as the Japanese manufacturer also make the move from Red Bull.

Alonso will be 44 by the time he hits the F1 2026 grid in the Newey-designed Aston Martin, but Fittipaldi sees no sign of decline from the Spaniard.

“Fernando has the head and the will to win, he still has the physique to win. For many years to come,” Fittipaldi told AS.

“I was 49 in my last year of IndyCar and I was still competitive, because I wanted to win. And being an athlete has that. Even in motorsport, today, with all the physical preparation, with the care to stay well as an athlete, you can go very far.

“It all depends on the head. On the head and on [makes gesture of the balls].

“Alonso, at the age he is, physically he’s fine, mentally he’s fine. If you have the will, you can win.

“With a better car… Aston Martin, next year, with Adrian Newey, can have a very competitive car.”

Aston Martin team boss Andy Cowell recently offered an insight into what Newey is up to as he bids to master the F1 2026 ruleset.

The 66-year-old will not be seen at any meetings, and they cannot expect him to reply to an email, but Aston Martin fully trust the process as they look to climb back up the F1 grid, having not featured on the podium since 2023.

“He’s a racing car designer. One of the best,” Cowell said of Newey to AS.

“From day one we made sure we prepared his working environment, he came in and went to meetings about the new rules, about the concepts we had worked on. We explained the countdown to the first test and the first race. And we pointed out all the deadlines for submitting information for the production of this [2026] car.

“He went straight to work with engineers to do sketches on his drawing board. He’s in that design cycle to design fundamental parts of the car. Ninety per cent of the creation of a car is in the factory and that’s where we want Adrian.

“He has his office, everyone who walks past says that whenever they see him he’s always drawing on the whiteboard.

“Sure, he doesn’t go to meetings, he doesn’t answer emails, he’s just putting together a fast car – and we all support that process.”

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With Aston Martin having scored only 10 points across the opening five rounds of F1 2025, the team could be forgiven for asking Newey to take a look at their AMR25 in an effort to unlock performance.

However, this is not something which they will do.

“One-hundred per cent of Adrian’s designing time is focused on ’26,” Cowell told the media, including PlanetF1.com, ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

“He joined in March, so there was a period of him getting up to speed with the regulations, up to speed with the concept work that we’ve been doing in the preceding couple of months.

“And there are some tough deadlines to meet for releasing monopod details, transmission details, and the cars are running earlier for the ’26 season.

“The test is at the end of January, so getting a car ready for that point requires a slightly earlier decision point. And clearly, everything’s new. There’s zero carryover. So there’s lots of work there, and Adrian has just been focused on that.”

Cowell concluded: “He’s focused largely on the tools that we’re using, rather than any direct performance aspect for the ’25 car.”

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