Newey breaks silence during Monaco GP weekend after lenghty F1 absence

It was the first time since the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne that the British design guru had been seen publicly in the paddock, during a campaign that has so far coincided with the complete sporting failure of the AMR26 project. The car has continued to languish towards the back of the field, although Fernando Alonso managed to secure the team's first point of the season with a surprise result in Monaco.

Speaking to F1, the former Red Bull figure said he was pleased to be back in the paddock for the first time since Melbourne, adding that he has spent the past few months focused on developing the car. He also confirmed that Aston Martin is targeting a significant upgrade package that is expected to be introduced shortly before the summer break: "It's nice to be back. It's the first race I've been to since Melbourne. Just been working away on updating the car and an update that we will have ready probably just before the summer break."

As for the drivers, who have endured a nightmare campaign so far, Newey acknowledged that the situation has been particularly difficult for them. He explained that, following Melbourne, Aston Martin deliberately chose not to pursue a series of small upgrades, instead focusing on improving its internal processes and carrying out a more thorough development programme.

Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, Honda chief executive Shintaro Orihara offered an update on the manufacturer's power unit development programme, confirming that work on a significant upgrade is already underway. However, he explained that progress remains dependent on regulatory clarification from the FIA before the project can move forward at full speed.

Orihara revealed that Honda has already identified the areas requiring improvement and has begun the early stages of development, but stressed that introducing a new engine specification is a lengthy and complex process. The programme involves extensive simulation work, single-cylinder testing, full V6 performance evaluations and reliability assessments, all of which require considerable time before a revised power unit can be homologated and raced.

While indicating that the target is to have the upgrade ready during the summer period, Orihara stopped short of providing a definitive timeframe, joking that the definition of "summer" can vary depending on whether one is referring to Greece, England or Japan: "Difficult to say. Maybe I would say summer, but I can't say which summer in Greece. England summer, or Japan summer. Sorry."