Alonso hands Newey warning: Aston Martin fix ”not a one-man job’

Fernando Alonso believes turning around the performance of his ailing Aston Martin F1 team is “not only a one-man job”.

Adrian Newey is expected to be announced by the team next week, however, the Spanish driver insists the way out of the Silverstone squad’s slump is more holistic.

Aston Martin started the season fighting Mercedes for fourth in the pecking order, but as the Brackley-based team has soared into race-winning form, Aston Martin has fallen into the clutches of the second tier of F1 teams.

The hope is that in bringing Newey into the fold, the legendary designer will help guide the team to championship contention, as he did at Red Bull which he will formally leave in early 2025.

When it was put to Alonso by RacingNews365 that the Briton would be a great addition, the 43-year-old responded: “Well, it’s still only rumours. 

“And I think it’s not only a one-man job to fix things, so it’s more what we have now, and what we are producing.

“[We have to] understand what is going in the right direction, what is going in the wrong direction, and try to prepare for 2025 in a better way.”

Alonso ‘not a fan of excuses’

As attention shifts to 2026 and the sweeping chassis and aerodynamic regulation changes that will usher in a new era of F1, development on the current generation of the car is expected to reduce drastically.

However, Alonso believes Aston Martin still has time to right some of the wrongs of the AMR24, arguing there is no excuse not to find a way back to the form it showed in early 2023 when he was scoring consistent podium finishes.

“I think we still have time to react,” the two-time drivers’ champion said.

“McLaren improved in four months from last to first, or from last to podium [in 2023]. So we have clear examples.

“Also, Mercedes started the same as us [this season]. We were level with Mercedes for the first four races, and they’ve won three races this year. So I’m not a fan of excuses.”