Mercedes star George Russell reckons Aston Martin is the squad most likely to challenge last year’s top four in the 2026 Formula 1 season when new regulations are introduced.
The Silver Arrows, Ferrari, Red Bull and reigning champions McLaren have been a significant cut above the rest in recent years. So much so that the last race won by none of those teams was the 2021 Hungarian Grand Prix as Alpine’s Esteban Ocon claimed victory in the crazy contest.
But that could all change this season as the cars are now totally different thanks to a significant overhaul of the regulations, meaning the pecking order is currently anyones guess. This year, an F1 chassis is lighter and smaller, down by 32kg, while the engine features more electric power.
It is in times like these when a midfield outfit might suddenly jolt to the front and Aston Martin, which finished seventh in 2025, is the team many have their eyes on to do exactly that. That’s because from 2026 its team principal is F1 legend Adrian Newey, who has designed many championship-winning cars like the FW14B, FW18 or RB6 - just to name a few.
That’s not all, however, as Aston Martin also boasts world champion Fernando Alonso and it has switched from being a Mercedes customer to a Honda works’ outfit, the Japanese marque previously helped power Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to four, consecutive world titles.
Could F1 therefore have a multi-team championship fight on its hands? “I think the best case scenario from the sport and also for the drivers is that you've got a number of different drivers and a number of different teams all battling it out,” said Russell, who is currently the bookmakers’ favourite for the 2026 title.
“At the moment it does look like Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and ourselves are, let's say, the four teams that are all quite close within one another. But you can't discount what you've seen from Aston Martin and what Adrian has done with that car.
“It looks pretty spectacular and Honda over the past few years with Red Bull have had a very good engine beneath them - so we also know what they're capable of. So, that would be awesome to see a big fight. I remember it was 2010 when you had the McLarens, Fernando [then at Ferrari] and the Red Bulls all fighting - that's what the sport is about and that's what we hope it will be about this year.”
Although Newey is now Aston’s team boss, when he joined last March his role was managing technical partner with his sole focus being to develop this year’s car. And when F1 held the campaign’s first collective shakedown in Barcelona last week, Newey’s fingerprints were very much seen on the AMR26.
The bulbous nose looks interesting, reminiscent of Brawn, as does the unique endplate and sidepod design. But it was the suspension package that caught most attention - with a radical inclination of the upper wishbone that James Vowles was extremely complimentary of.
"Adrian is just a creative designer,” said the Williams boss. “And it's really impressive what he's done with wishbones in places that I don't think they should be. But he's done them. You'll see it in our front wishbone. It's slightly different, but where Adrian's gone is Adrian. Very impressive, very creative, very extreme. I wouldn't want to be the designer for that one. Let's put it that way."
But Russell was also quick to point out that even though a car might look interesting, it doesn’t necessarily translate to fast lap times. Newey recently revealed, for example, that wind tunnel testing for the AMR26 started approximately four months late and Aston Martin also didn’t appear in the five-day shakedown until day four.
That meant it completed the least mileage of any team, except for Williams which didn’t show up. What's more, there are also doubts over the Silverstone squad’s ability to properly develop a car given its decline from a podium-laden start to 2023 to firm midfield results two years later.
Russell said: “I think the Aston Martin was probably the most standout in terms of the car design. Everybody was looking at that rear suspension and it obviously visually looks very impressive, but it's not a competition of how sexy it is.
“It's a competition of how fast it goes around the track. So people always look towards the fastest car and we'll find that in Melbourne. Whoever that is, that will be the car that you wish to try and take inspiration from.”
The 2026 campaign starts with the Australian Grand Prix on 6-8 March, with two official pre-season tests in Bahrain (11-13 and 18-20 February) before then.
Additional reporting by Filip Cleeren and Stuart Codling
