Aston Martin has not yet placed the first model of the car that the Silverstone team will field in the 2026 championship into the wind tunnel. The 2026 cars will debut with the new regulations, which are still under review for some aerodynamic aspects.
However, the decision is not due to not wanting to waste hours in the wind tunnel (Aston Martin will have 360 hours in the first half of 2025 because they finished fifth in the Constructors’ Championship, compared to 280 hours for McLaren, who won the team championship). Instead, it is due to the need to calibrate and fine-tune the new wind tunnel, which has been completed at their new, state-of-the-art headquarters in Silverstone.
Adrian Newey operational on March 5
Meanwhile, Adrian Newey could join the working group led by Lawrence Stroll: the English “genius” is expected to start working on March 5 and will focus almost exclusively on the 2026 car. Aston Martin has developed the AMR25 in the Mercedes wind tunnel in Brackley, but they have no intention of taking the early studies of next year’s car, which will, of course, start from a clean sheet, to Mercedes’ facility.
The new wind tunnel will be equipped with the most modern simulation systems and could become an important tool for taking the next step in quality. Lawrence Stroll is spending considerable amounts to make the team’s factory worthy of a top team, but it will take some time before the wind tunnel can produce data that correlates with track performance.
The billion-dollar offer to Max denied!
The team has also denied the “fairy tale” that a billion-dollar offer was made to Max Verstappen to drive for them in the future. The Daily Mail’s claim, quickly picked up by those seeking easy clicks, quickly deflated. The Dutchman, often linked to the Silverstone team, actually aims to drive a car with a Mercedes engine. Max is convinced that the Brixworth power unit will be the best of the new generation.
Gary Gannon track engineer
Aston Martin has instead secured a deal with Gary Gannon, the track engineer who comes from Haas, where he had been active since the 2015 season. Gannon previously worked at Marussia, so the team gains a highly experienced engineer. It is still unclear whether he will work with Fernando Alonso or Lance Stroll.
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