In the afternoon in Barcelona, the Aston Martin AMR26 finally tasted the asphalt, taking to the track and revealing the lines of the first car shaped by Adrian Newey. The new single-seater from the Silverstone-based team made its on-track debut with Lance Stroll at the wheel, marking the first real shakedown also for the Honda Power Unit. The AMR26 appeared with an entirely black livery, a temporary solution due to the fact that the team has not yet unveiled its official colours, which are expected to be revealed at the launch scheduled for 9 February.
Double push-rod suspension, a triangular airbox, sidepods with a 2023-style lower lip and other “extreme” solutions: is the return of the bracket concept on the cards?
The “last-minute” debut of the AMR26, after a Thursday spent assembling the car at the circuit, was the result of a complex development phase marked by some delays linked to the birth of the British single-seater. From the first images, Adrian Newey’s influence is clearly visible. The front wing features a rather stubby nose and profiles with a fairly flat development. The bodywork shows downwashing sidepods that narrow significantly towards the rear, broadly following the design direction seen on cars such as Ferrari and Mercedes.
The sidepod inlets are not particularly large, in line with Adrian Newey’s preference for aggressive solutions when it comes to the compromise between aerodynamics and cooling. The lower lip of the sidepods is pushed forward, recalling a concept that Newey himself had already adopted between the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
The front push-rod suspension features very high mounting points, particularly for the lower wishbone, a choice that favours leaving more space in the lower area between the chassis and the ground, while reducing the gap between the overlapping wishbones. The upper wishbone is also positioned very high in the upright area, which, in addition to being multi-link, shows a clear reference to the so-called “brackets” that were widely used on Formula 1 cars up until the 2021 season.
The airbox is triangular in shape, more in line with a “Cardile school” approach, complete with rather prominent horns and the well-known “cobra” shapes positioned on either side of the cockpit.
Aggressive rear-end choices: suspension arm anchored to the double pylon
The area that perhaps deserves the closest scrutiny on the AMR26 is the rear end, where some of the most interesting solutions can be found. The double pylon is quite vertical, indeed almost inclined in the opposite direction compared to the design seen, for example, on the McLaren MCL40. At the base of the double pylon, one of the rear suspension arms can be seen pivoting directly on the supports of the rear wing structure.
This is another choice that echoes solutions from the past, commonly found on cars from the pre-Venturi era. The push-rod strut is noticeably inclined and mounted high, and the AMR26 also features a significant tie-rod linked to the floor. There does not appear to be an extensive search for the so-called “cannons” in the engine cover area; instead, the design favours a large lateral opening above the sidepods.
The technical reveal of the Aston Martin AMR26 in Barcelona highlights Adrian Newey’s willingness to blend retro-inspired “brackets” with cutting-edge 2026 aerodynamics to create a truly unique platform. By anchoring the rear suspension directly to the wing pylons and refining the front-end geometry, the team is clearly targeting a sophisticated mechanical-to-aero balance that could define the early pecking order of this new era. While the “stealth” black livery hid the finer details of the floor, the aggressive packaging of the Honda Power Unit and the innovative cooling solutions suggest that the AMR26 is built for maximum aerodynamic efficiency. As the team moves toward its official February 9th unveiling, the data gathered from these initial “extreme” laps will be vital in proving whether Newey’s bold return to legacy concepts provides the competitive edge Aston Martin needs to climb to the front of the grid.
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