Adrian Newey’s Aston Martin project has a clear checkpoint now: a noticeable step forward in Hungary, then Honda’s ADUO power unit at Zandvoort. David Coulthard says that combination can drag the team out of a first half of the season he described as really bad and into grand prix wins within two years.
David Coulthard on Newey
Coulthard put the forecast bluntly on the Up To Speed podcast: “Mark my words, they will be the biggest improving team over the next two years, and I will predict they will win grand prixs in the next two years,” He also said of Newey, “So he’s awesome. There’s no question. He’s a racer, and what he doesn’t do is corporate PR. What you see is what you get, and that’s actually why he’s the one person that can handle that.”
He said he has worked with Newey since he was 21 years old, and that long view sits behind the confidence. Coulthard’s comments came from someone who knows how a design-led rebuild looks when it starts to move. In Hungary, Aston Martin’s new aerodynamic upgrades produced the first clear sign that the car was coming back toward the window the team wants.
Hungary changed the shape
The upgrade did not solve everything, but it changed the shape of the car’s problems. The aerodynamic issues are now mostly under control, which matters because that is the part of the package that had been holding the team back most visibly during the opening months of the season.
Coulthard’s own summary of the deficit was simple: “I think the summary was about a second coming from the engine, a couple of seconds coming from the car.” That split matters for Aston Martin’s next step because it separates what the Hungary package addressed from what still has to arrive in the power unit. The team’s early-season pain was framed as a major performance drop, not a single weak race.
Zandvoort and Honda
At Zandvoort, Aston Martin is expected to debut Honda’s long-awaited ADUO power unit, turning the next race into a technical reset rather than just another stop on the schedule. The move follows the Hungary changes and gives the team a cleaner read on how much of the recovery comes from the bodywork and how much comes from the engine side of the package.
The season now sits between two reference points: a poor first half and a stronger showing after the HungarianGP upgrade. For Aston Martin, that means the next competitive sample comes with a different power unit and a more settled aerodynamic platform, and for Alonso it is the first chance to see whether the recent step can hold when the car changes again.
Coulthard’s prediction is the part that raises the bar. If the Hungary update really solved most of the aerodynamic trouble, then Zandvoort becomes the measure of whether ADUO can close the remaining gap that he broke down as engine time plus car time. The answer will decide whether Newey’s rebuild is moving on schedule or still waiting for the next piece.
A Christian Horner return tied to Adrian Newey’s Aston Martin overhaul sits in the background of that wider rebuild, but the immediate test is simpler: whether the Hungary gain survives when Honda’s power unit arrives.
