Adrian Newey holds McLaren MCL40 inspection at Spanish Grand Prix

Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey was spotted by PlanetF1.com inspecting the McLaren MCL40 of Oscar Piastri on the grid ahead of Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid.

Aston Martin’s troubled F1 2026 season continued at the new Madring circuit as Lance Stroll retired and Fernando Alonso finished a distant 17th.

Adrian Newey inspects Oscar Piastri’s McLaren on Spanish GP grid

The race was won by Mercedes driver Kimi Antonelli, who took advantage of a virtual safety car to take the lead from polesitter and reigning world champion Lando Norris.

Norris claimed a third pole position in four races in Madrid on Saturday, outpacing championship leader Antonelli by 0.011 seconds.

Following a challenging start to the season, McLaren has re-emerged as a frontrunner over recent weeks after a series of upgrades either side of the summer break.

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And Newey was spotted by PlanetF1.com’s Thomas Maher taking a close look at the sister MCL40 of Piastri on the starting grid ahead of the race (below).

Piastri went on to finish eighth in Madrid, 90 seconds adrift of teammate Norris.

The Spanish Grand Prix saw Newey make his sixth paddock trip of the season following his previous appearances in Australia, Monaco, Britain, Hungary and the Netherlands.

Newey has kept a close eye on McLaren as the F1 2026 campaign has developed, with the legendary designer also caught eyeing the MCL40 in Monte Carlo and Budapest earlier this season (below).

Newey was appointed Aston Martin team principal in November 2025, taking his first senior Formula 1 management role eight months after arriving at Silverstone in the role of managing technical partner and team shareholder.

An investigation by PlanetF1.com earlier this month revealed the details of Newey’s share for the first time.

Newey holds an approximate 4.7 per cent share in the Aston Martin Formula 1 team through what is known as an alphabet shareholding.

At current market rates, Newey’s slice is worth in the region of $159.8million based on the current $3.4billion valuation of the Aston Martin Formula 1 team.

However, much of that has not been realised and cannot be accessed in the short term.

As reported by PlanetF1.com in March, Newey is expected to vacate the role of Aston Martin team principal in due course, with former Audi boss Jonathan Wheatley in line to take over.

Newey is understood to have led the search for a new long-term Aston Martin team principal shortly after his own appointment to the role last year, with Wheatley emerging as the prime candidate.

Audi went on to confirm the departure of Wheatley 48 hours after the news emerged.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher and Mat Coch

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