I remember seeing it come out the garage in Barcelona last month. A total black carbon finish instead of the green. Wasn’t about style, just ran right out of time for paint.
Adrian Newey said that himself, at the launch later. He’s the designer legend now with Aston Martin. He admitted the car we saw at Barcelona, it was all black because we genuinely didn’tt have time for painting it. Shows you how rushed everything was behind it all.
They only did two days of their three allowed in Barcelona. First day was messy, Lance Stroll only got five laps in. Then Fernando Alonso, he did a solid 61 laps on the last day which was better.
Newey told a story about him and Lawrence Stroll. They stood in the pitlane watching that black car. Felt really emotional for them both, he said. A long journey of passion just to get it there to the track. That was the first real thing since Newey came over from Red Bull.
Now the car is finally green and lime like it should be. Everyone’s thinking about the Bahrain test next. All the other teams will be there too. It’s a lot of pressure now for Newey, who’s also the team boss. This year starts their new chapter with Honda.
This car, the AMR26, it’s special. First one made completely in their brand new wind tunnel at Silverstone. Lawrence Stroll put so much into the facilities, wanting to build a team that wins championships. The tunnel is a huge part of that dream. The last couple seasons were hard, fell back from podiums. This is the push to get back up front.
The rules changed a lot for this year. Newey sees it as a big chance. He said whenever regulations change, there’s always huge opportunities. It’s about who spots the right solution first. Back in 2022, lots of different ideas were out there. By now, everyone sort of copies the best one. He would know, he’s brilliant at new rules.
Him being here makes everything feel more possible. The hope is that Aston Martin’s idea, with Newey helping, will be the right one.
Rushing to get to Barcelona, even without paint, shows what they care about. Performance first. That bare carbon look, it was necessary but it also felt pure. Like getting down to just the work. We’ll see in Bahrain if the work was worth it. Everyone will be watching the green cars finally painted and Newey’s newest project. That emotional feeling from Barcelona, it’s coming with us to the desert.
It’s strange now working in these brand new buildings. Everything feels so polished and quiet, a big difference from the older, more cramped spaces we were in before. The new wind tunnel, it don’t even sound like a wind tunnel really more like a deep, steady whisper while it’s working. You have to remember this is all to find tiny bits of time, hidden in the air.
Having Newey walking around, it changes the feeling in the rooms. Before, everyone was just very focused. Now there’s this… quiet kind of buzz. People don’t just bring him problems, they bring him ideas, even if the idea isn’t fully formed yet. He has a way of just nodding and you feel like you’re on the right path, even if he hasn’t said a word back yet. It’s a different kind of confidence he brings.
The switch to Honda power is a bigger mental change than I thought it would be. It’s not just a new sticker on the side. There’s new people in the garage, new ways of talking about the engine’s sound and power. It feels like we’re learning a second language together, us and them, and we’re all trying to become fluent before the first race really starts.
For Lawrence Stroll, you can see the weight of it all. This isn’t just a team he owns; it feels like a promise he’s trying to keep. To the fans, to the history of the name, maybe to himself. When he looks at the car, he’s not just seeing a machine. He’s seeing every decision, every new building, every person he hired. That’s a heavy thing to carry, and I think sometimes that’s what was in his eyes in Barcelona. Not just emotion, but the weight of all of it finally sitting there, real, on four tires.
