Design super brain Adrian Newey is one of Formula 1’s success guarantees that do not sit behind the wheel of a racing car. Since this season, the star engineer of the motorsport king class is to help to finally make Aston Martin a real candidate on the World Cup title. In an interview, Newey has now commented on the approaching challenges.
In 2026, the first standard revolution has been going to be a way for the scene of Formula 1 for a new challenge since 2022, which will present Formula 1 with a way to mix the field. Adrian Newey also sees it that way.
“My thoughts on the regulations of 2026 are similar to those that I also had for the major change of rule for 2022: At first I thought that the regulations were so normative that [für einen Designer, Anm.d.Red.] Not much would remain, but then you start to deal with the details and realize that there is more scope for innovations and different approaches than it initially appears, “Newey, in an interview with his new employer Aston Martin, takes position on what the F1 is facing.
The upcoming regulations are “flexible enough, and I am sure that you will come up with different solutions. Some of them will drop in the first two or three years when the teams start to approach,” continued the 66-year-old Brit.
“There is no point in dreaming about the future”
With all similarities to 2022 there is an innovation that makes even Newey a queasy feeling. “Another aspect is that, as far as I know, both the chassis regulations and the regulations for the drive units change at the same time. That is … and a little scary,” admits the super brain. He expects “a number of aero solutions and there could be differences in PU performance in the entire starter field right from the start-this was exactly what happened when the hybrid regulations came into force for the first time”.
However, he does not want to give a challenge that Newey has grown unquestionably. “There is no point in dreaming about the future. It is about getting started and doing the work. If we do our work right, hopefully everything will fit.”