Aston Martin Reshuffles Engineering Teams for 2026 Push

Aston Martin is restructuring the engineering crews around drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, expanding its trackside leadership to provide more senior oversight for both cars. The move is part of a broader effort by team principal Adrian Newey to elevate the team's performance ahead of the 2026 regulation changes, following a challenging start to pre-season testing with the new AMR26.

Why it matters:

With the team admitting it is not yet at the level of its rivals, this internal reshuffle aims to strengthen trackside operations and extract more potential from its car package. Having experienced senior engineers directly overseeing each car's communication and strategy is a critical step for a team that needs to accelerate its development curve to become a consistent front-runner.

The details:

The restructuring creates a new layer of senior race engineers for both drivers while promoting from within.

• Fernando Alonso's side: Chief engineer trackside Chris Cronin, who was Alonso's race engineer until last year, takes on the additional role of Senior Race Engineer. He will be Alonso's primary point of contact on the team radio, working alongside current race engineer Andrew Vizard.
• Lance Stroll's side: A more comprehensive change sees Stroll's former race engineer, the highly experienced Gary Gannon, promoted to Senior Race Engineer. Gannon is well-known for his previous work at Haas with drivers like Nico Hulkenberg and Mick Schumacher.
• Stephen Glass, a performance engineer who joined the team in its Racing Point era in 2019, steps up to become Stroll's new race engineer for the 2026 season.

The big picture:

This engineering overhaul comes at a crucial time. Aston Martin's pre-season has been difficult, with the AMR26 managing only minimal running at the first test in Barcelona and struggling for pace in Bahrain. Team principal Adrian Newey is pushing to get the squad to where he believes it needs to be, recognizing that integrating a new car, new partners, and now new engineering structures is a significant undertaking.

What's next:

The immediate focus is on unlocking the potential that the team believes exists within its current package. Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack acknowledged the steep challenge ahead but expressed confidence in the team's direction. The success of this new engineering structure will be measured by how quickly the team can improve its on-track performance and build a solid foundation for the 2026 regulatory reset.