Aston Martin are “waiting for Adrian Newey to put out the fires” following his arrival from Red Bull in time for the start of the F1 2025 season.

That is the claim of Roberto Merhi, the former F1 driver, who believes the team are braced for an underwhelming start to the new campaign.

Adrian Newey tipped to ‘put out fires’ at Aston Martin

Aston Martin enjoyed their strongest season for some time in 2023 as Fernando Alonso claimed a total of eight podium finishes, including a run of six in a row at the start of the year.

However, the team were unable to sustain their momentum and finished a lonely fifth, 374 points behind Mercedes (fourth) and 29 in front of Alpine (sixth) in 2024.

Despite the mediocre season on track, Aston Martin landed a major coup last year as they secured the signing of F1 design guru Adrian Newey from Red Bull.

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Newey stands as the most decorated individual in F1 history, having been involved in more than 200 race wins and a combined 26 Drivers’ and Constructors’ World Championships with the likes of Williams, McLaren and Red Bull.

As revealed by PlanetF1.com last month, Newey is set to begin work with Aston Martin on Monday March 3 – less than two weeks before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix – in the newly created role of managing technical partner.

The 66-year-old, who has also become an Aston Martin shareholder, is set to work closely with soon-to-be engine partners Honda – currently with Red Bull – and fuel suppliers Aramco on the team’s first car under the new F1 2026 regulations.

With the F1 2025 season the last of the current rules introduced in 2022, Aston Martin are expected to treat the upcoming campaign as a transitional year ahead of the sport’s 2026 reset.

Speaking to Spanish publication COPE, Merhi, who made a total of 13 starts with the now-defunct Manor team in 2015, has claimed that Aston Martin are in for a challenging start to the new season as they wait for Newey to work his magic.

Yet he believes Aston Martin should still have enough to be ahead of the likes of Williams, Sauber, Haas and Red Bull junior outfit VCARB.

He said: “From what I understand, Aston is not going to get off to a very good start.

“They are waiting for Newey to put out the fires. We have to wait a bit.

“In theory, Aston Martin should be ahead of Williams. They beat them last year and, as a team, they have made a step forward in the last three years.

“I think we will have a battle with Sauber first, Haas and RB.”

Merhi’s comments come after Daniel Juncadella, who joined Aston Martin as a simulator driver at the end of last year, admitted that the Silverstone-based team enter F1 2025 with muted expectations – but dismissed concerns that the team could effectively write off the season.

Asked about the team’s expectations, he told the L’Angle del Miramar podcast: “They are low.

“It’s not like we will throw a year away, because it’s important that it’s a competitive year.

“But it’s also a year to gather all of the information possible for next year [2026], where the expectations are very high.

“Everyone is already very close and I hope that this is the trend, because when the drivers are close Fernando can make the difference.

“So I am confident that we could also have some surprises.”

Koji Watanabe, the president of the Honda Racing Corporation, recently raised alarm by suggesting that the Japanese manufacturer are “struggling” with the demands of the F1 2026 engine rules.

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at the recent Daytona 24-hour race, Mr Watanabe said: “We are struggling. Now we are trying our best to show the result next year.

“Everything is new. The motor is a new 355-kW, very compact one we need. Also the lightweight battery, it’s not so easy to develop. And also the small engine with the big power.

“Everything is very difficult, but we try our best.”

It is understood that Mr. Watanabe, who was speaking in a second language, was making a more general comment on the challenges of the new rules for F1’s engine manufacturers rather than referring specifically to Honda’s progress ahead of F1’s new era.

Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, recently insisted that Honda will produce a “competitive” engine for Aston Martin in F1 2026.

However, he hinted that the Japanese manufacturer’s decision to officially withdraw from F1 at the end of 2021, only then to complete a U-turn and re-enter with Aston Martin, could compromise the development of the 2026 engine.

He said: “It is a big challenge.

“They disbanded their project and then restarted it again. They may well have lost a little bit of time through that.

“But they’re a very capable company and they’ve got great strength.

“I am sure they’ll have a competitive power unit come 2026.”

Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll are set to present Aston Martin’s F1 2025 livery at Formula 1’s first-ever season-launch event, attended by all 10 teams and 20 drivers, in London tomorrow (Tuesday).

The new AMR25 car will then be officially launched on February 23 before a filming day is staged in Bahrain 24 hours later.

F1’s single pre-season test will be held across February 26-28 before Newey officially starts work with Aston Martin the following Monday.

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