Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey has said he is doing “ok now” after going through a “difficult period” with health issues.
The legendary F1 designer was speaking in a wide-ranging interview with ahead of their home British Grand Prix this weekend in which he also addressed the team's humbling start to the sport's new era of rules and confirmed plans to introduce a first big car upgrade in Hungary at the end of July.
On his spell of ill health, Newey said: "I'm ok now, but it's been a difficult period.
"I said earlier [about the team's start to the season], it never rains but it pours.
"In truth, I was not 100 per cent last year. I had to balance health and work much more carefully.
"The team handled it incredibly well.
"I kept a very good relationship with the engineers and I don't feel it caused too much of a blip. That's a testament to how adaptable and supportive everyone here is."
On the track, Aston Martin have endured a wretched start to the 2026 season.
The outfit have regularly been the slowest car in the field despite entering F1's new rules era with what appeared the dream ticket of a first car designed by Newey - whose challengers have won 25 world titles across three different decades - and a works engine deal with Honda, winners of recent championships with Red Bull.
Newey admits the team "probably put too much expectation on ourselves" for the start of 2026 and that , and the Silverstone-based outfit not yet being operationally strong enough, had contributed to the problems.
Honda have also experienced vibration and reliability issues with their underperforming power unit.
Aston Martin have scored a solitary point in eight grands prix so far with their short-term struggles increased by what Newey admits was the "painful decision" to not bring regular small updates to the AMR26 like the rest of the grid on a race-by-race basis until one bigger overhaul was ready.
But Newey is convinced that approach will prove to be in the team's best long-term interests, with that first upgrade now confirmed for the Hungarian Grand Prix on July 24-26.
"We plan to introduce our upgrade in Hungary on both cars," said Newey.
"The main structural elements remain the same - the chassis and gearbox architecture don't fundamentally change - but we've taken weight out of both, which required re-homologating and crash testing the forward chassis.
"The front suspension is unchanged. The rear suspension is slightly revised.
"We've developed a new nose and substantially revised aerodynamic surfaces. So, while the core structure is similar, it's a big aerodynamic package coupled with significant weight reduction. The target is to get very close to the weight limit."
Newey, who added the title of team principal at the start of the year to his existing role of managing technical partner, is expecting a sizeable improvement in lap time but is remaining cautious on the absolute outcome.
"We're predicting a large step, but I'm reluctant to put specific numbers out there because our simulation tools aren't yet as sophisticated or well correlated as they need to be," added the 67-year-old
"Historically, at this team, there hasn't been enough investment in engineering simulation tools - not just project management systems, but the core physics tools themselves. We're putting that investment in now, but you don't rewrite and validate those tools overnight. Correlating them properly with the real car takes time.
"At the moment, they're improving, but the real gains from that work will come later in the year."
On the future of star driver Fernando Alonso, whose contract at the team ends after this season, Newey is optimistic that if they can show the 44-year-old "clear, tangible progress" with their Hungary upgrade then he will stay for 2027.
Asked how important the Budapest upgrade was for Alonso, who is set to weigh up his F1 future this summer, Newey said: "It's very important. Fernando is really looking forward to the upgrade and, if it performs, we hope he'll be in the cockpit for another season.
"Given his experience, his feel for the car, his ability to guide development, he's a tremendous asset.
"But he wants to see clear, tangible progress. If we can show that we're moving decisively in the right direction, he's absolutely committed to being behind the wheel."
Newey says the whole team are motivated to get themselves back up the grid.
"You walk around the AMR Technology Campus at night and the lights are still on. There are a lot of late evenings, a lot of motivation, and a real determination to prove that we can do this," he added.
"We have the facilities, we have the people, we have huge amounts of talent. The task is to make it all gel - and to an extent, take the pressure off ourselves so we can breathe and concentrate on medium‑ and long‑term projects, not just the next race.
"That means not only solving our immediate aero and mechanical issues, but also introducing better systems and processes that underpin how we design and build the car."
Next up in the 2026 Formula 1 season is the big one, a Sprint weekend at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix - live on Your Site F1 and Sky One with coverage from Thursday to Sunday's race at 3pm.
