Adrian Newey’s aggressive design philosophy – as it believes it
will unlock more performance. The AMR26 has struggled so far in
2026 through a lack of power from the Honda engine, but also
through chassis problems, including concerns with the gearbox,
built in-house for the first time by the team, losing sync at
low-speed. Alonso did manage to score a point in Monaco, but the
car proved to be well off the pace in Barcelona, prompting an
apology to the fans from chief trackside officer, Mike Krack. The
team has not delivered any major upgrades to the car as yet, with a
huge package set to be delivered later in the summer. Discussing
the design philosophy of Newey, the most successful designer in F1
history, Alonso labelled it as “finding the limit” and explained
why the team would not turn to a more conventional design in the
pursuit of more performance. “That is always his philosophy, to try
to find the limit,” Alonso told media, including RacingNews365 of
Newey. “When you find the limit, you go half a step back, and
that’s the way it is, and that’s where we are at the moment.
“There are many different areas in the team that we are pushing the
limits, knowing that maybe we could find immediate performance if
we go back to a more known place, but we prefer to keep this
philosophy in certain areas of the car. “Because we believe that it
will unlock more performance in the near future.”