Adrian Newey makes 'aggressive' Aston Martin prediction

Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey has voiced belief that he Silverstone-based squad can develop into a front-running team this year.

A challenging pre-season period for Aston Martin has seen it arrive at the season-opening round in Australia with limited mileage.

Its lack of on-track time has stemmed from significant vibrations from the Honda power unit, which has gone so far as putting the driver's health in danger.

Honda has insisted it is working to implement fixes as soon as possible, but the engine is not the only limitation.

Newey has suggested the chassis could be up to one second slower than the leaders in its current specification.

“On the chassis side, it's well known that we faced a very condensed period of development,” Newey told media including RacingNews365. 

“We didn't get a model into the wind tunnel until mid-April, so quite a long way behind our competitors. That's just a fact of life.

“What we tried to concentrate on was having a good, sound architectural package. By architectural package, I mean the parts that we can't easily change in-season.

“We've achieved that. I look at our package, and I don't feel as if we've particularly missed anything.”

Newey offers Aston Martin hope

While Aston Martin is facing a weekend of pain in Australia, Newey offered a glimmer of hope for the season ahead.

The Briton has pledged to carry out an “aggressive” development schedule and even suggested it could lift Aston Martin to the head of the pecking order at some point during the year.

“I believe the car has huge, tremendous development potential,” he said.

“It will take a few races for us to fully realise that potential, because quite an aggressive development plan is underway. 

“It's fair to say that here in Melbourne, we are a bit behind the leaders. Probably I would say maybe we're the fifth best team - so sort of potential Q3 qualifiers on the chassis side.

“Obviously, it's not where we want to be, but with the potential to be up front at some point in the season.”