Juan Pablo Montoya believes Aston Martin’s heavily revised car introduced at the Hungarian Grand Prix was the first version to truly demonstrate Adrian Newey’s influence. After a difficult start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, the former F1 driver sees the Budapest upgrade as a potential turning point for the British team, with further developments still to come.
Aston Martin’s opening phase of the season had been almost too poor to believe, but signs of a recovery finally emerged in Hungary. The significantly lighter B-spec version of the car made its debut at the Hungaroring, and the improvements were immediately noticeable. It followed a difficult first half of the campaign in which even Adrian Newey acknowledged there had been a positive side to Aston Martin’s troubled start with Honda.
Montoya sees Adrian Newey’s real Aston Martin influence from Hungary
According to Juan Pablo Montoya, Adrian Newey’s work at Aston Martin should be judged from the Hungarian Grand Prix onwards rather than on what came before. The Colombian explained that many fundamental choices had already been made by the time Adrian Newey arrived, meaning the renowned designer initially had to work with a project that had largely been defined by others.
“Aston Martin went from being absolutely last to being competitive, a clear sign that Newey’s influence is starting to have an effect,” Juan Pablo Montoya told Betpack. “The Budapest car is the first real Newey car. When Adrian arrived, many things had already been decided. They weren’t what he wanted. So he worked starting from what had already been defined.”
The Hungary package therefore represented more than a conventional development step in Juan Pablo Montoya’s assessment. It was the first opportunity to see a version of Aston Martin’s 2026 car shaped more substantially by Adrian Newey’s technical direction, rather than simply an evolution of decisions made before his arrival.
Aston Martin targets another step forward at Zandvoort
Juan Pablo Montoya also believes Aston Martin’s recovery may continue after the summer break, with another important development due for the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort. Honda is preparing an upgraded power unit for the weekend, adding another element to the team’s attempt to move further up the competitive order. Aston Martin has already described the progress made with the revised car as a “giant step” ahead of the Zandvoort Honda upgrade.
“Now there are more new developments coming. There’s the new engine arriving for the next race at Zandvoort. It will be another step forward,” Juan Pablo Montoya added. “In any case, Aston Martin was four seconds off the leaders before, and now it’s ahead of Williams, Haas and Alpine. Newey’s first Aston Martin is already better than most of the other cars.”
The Dutch Grand Prix will therefore provide the next indication of whether Aston Martin can carry its Hungary progress into the remainder of the season. Zandvoort is the first event after the summer break, with the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix weekend set to give the team its first opportunity to combine the revised chassis with Honda’s latest power-unit development.
For Juan Pablo Montoya, the most significant point is already clear: the Aston Martin seen in Budapest was not simply faster than the car that preceded it. In his view, it represented the first meaningful indication of what the team could become under Adrian Newey’s influence.
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