There was great expectation to see the shapes of the first Aston Martin designed under Adrian Newey’s direction. It was important to be present in Bahrain, considering that the brilliant British designer has always amazed and generated huge interest with his solutions whenever new regulations are introduced. From this perspective, the AMR26 lived up to expectations, although there was no shortage of disappointment due to performance still far below estimates. This culminated in a sudden slowdown of the program caused by a lack of spare parts at Honda on the final day of Friday’s running.
A car already behind its rivals, further penalized by a Honda engine not yet up to the required standard. At the time, Christian Horner proved very skillful in executing a targeted recruitment campaign for Red Bull, bringing the best Japanese technicians away from the Sakura manufacturer. For this reason as well, the power unit powering the AMR26 effectively started almost from scratch. Observing the Aston Martin, extreme solutions are immediately noticeable. The aspect that sparked the most curiosity from the outset concerns the rear suspension.
At first glance, it appeared that the rear arm of the upper wishbone was directly attached to the rear wing pylon. In reality, this is a concept Newey had already used at Red Bull, now taken to an extreme on the Aston Martin.
Essentially, it is an upward extension of the deformable structure positioned behind the gearbox, which acts as a very solid base for mounting the rear suspension layout, with the two wing pylons integrated into the structure itself.
The layout is multi-link and is also present at the front: the upper wishbone shows multiple mounting points to the wheel hub carrier, clearly visible in the brake caliper drawing. What stands out, however, is the extremely long rear arm of the wishbone, extending almost to the beginning of the sidepods.
Even more so in 2026, suspensions have become true aerodynamic elements. Hence the search for compromises, as this solution aims to channel airflow mass toward the sidepods.
The brake caliper position is also unusual. Newey was the first to adopt a horizontal positioning at the front. At Red Bull it was not as extreme, whereas on the AMR26 it is mounted very high, even higher than on the 2025 car, which had the caliper ahead of the axle but in a central position. In the diagram highlighting the various components with different colors, it is clear that Newey attempted to move everything upward, to the point that the lower suspension arm sits almost at wheel-axle height, optimizing airflow directed toward the central section of the car.
This solution is among those that required a weight penalty, as did the work on the deformable structure mentioned earlier. This choice could partly become a disadvantage when riding over kerbs, considering that masses are usually positioned lower to favor vehicle dynamics.
Newey sacrificed almost everything for aerodynamics; this is confirmed by a small shaped wing profile at the rear end of the tie rod that stiffens the bargeboards, designed to better guide airflow.
The rake effect is also noteworthy, with Aston Martin using the steepest angle among all the cars — a trademark of the British designer.
Cooling is equally extreme, with very tightly packaged sidepods, completely undercut in the lower section, where the radiator — positioned almost horizontally — features a sinuous rather than straight shape to follow internal fluid dynamics and reduce bulk, while louvered vents were introduced on the sidepods in Sakhir.
