Jun.5 (GMM) Adrian Newey will return to the Formula 1 paddock in Monaco weekend after weeks of speculation about his absence from Aston Martin’s struggling 2026 campaign.
The design legend’s low profile had fuelled rumours ranging from internal concerns about the team’s disappointing start to suggestions of health issues and even speculation linking former Audi boss Jonathan Wheatley with the team principal role.
However, Aston Martin trackside chief Mike Krack confirmed Newey will be present in Monaco. “We’ll see him this weekend,” Krack said.
“It’s good because he has a lot of experience here and has won a lot. It’s a place where he can help us with his advice.”
Although Newey is ostensibly still team boss, he will not take on all the duties normally associated with a team principal during a race weekend. The team’s ambassador Pedro de la Rosa will instead represent Aston Martin in the FIA press conference, for instance.
Aston Martin’s difficult start to the Honda era remains a major concern.
Honda’s Shintaro Orihara admitted the manufacturer is still waiting for the FIA to finalise planned engine rule adjustments before deciding on its next development steps.
“In the current situation, we are still waiting for the FIA’s decision,” he said.
“Once we receive it, we will have a clear idea of what we need to improve.”
Orihara acknowledged that meaningful engine improvements are unlikely to arrive quickly. “The process of introducing a new engine is a long-term development,” he explained.
“It’s not a short-term development project.”
Asked when an upgraded power unit might appear, he joked: “Perhaps I’d say in summer, but I can’t say which summer.
“The summer in Greece, the summer in England, or the summer in Japan.”
Fernando Alonso, meanwhile, revealed some of Aston Martin’s reliability issues stem directly from Newey’s aggressive design philosophy.
“Adrian always wants to find the limit and, once he’s found it, take a half step back,” the Spaniard said.
“That’s his way of working.”
Alonso said the team is deliberately resisting the temptation to retreat to more conservative solutions. “We know that by going back to more traditional solutions we might get an immediate performance boost,” he explained.
“But we prefer to maintain this philosophy because we believe it can unlock much more potential in the near future.”
The two-time world champion is also hoping a recurring seat issue that led to his retirement in Montreal due to excessive pain has now been solved.
“We worked on it last week, testing various driving positions,” Alonso said.
“We evaluated four different configurations and ultimately reverted to the position used in 2025. The experiments are over.”
Krack confirmed extensive work had been carried out with Alonso earlier this week.
“Luckily, he lives just around the corner,” he said. “So on Tuesday we dedicated a lot of work to it and made many adjustments.”
Alonso believes Monaco will provide an important test for several other unresolved issues. “One of them will undoubtedly be the gearbox,” said the 44-year-old.
“Monaco isn’t the track for random downshifts. You end up in the wall and you’re just a passenger. That’s what we need to correct, and Monaco will tell us the truth.”
