George Russell says Aston Martin AMR26 is the standout design

Arriving late to the party, the AMR26 arrived in style and became the talk of the Formula 1 town as soon as Lance Stroll drove it out of the garage late on Thursday, the penultimate day of the Barcelona test, in a full carbon black livery.

The AMR26 had all the design cues of Adrian Newey scattered over it from the front wing, front suspension, sidepods, and rear suspension.

Russell, like many others in and out of the F1 paddock, took note of the Honda-powered Aston Martin AMR26 and did not hide his admiration despite what looks to be a handy W17 in which he will fight in the 2026 F1 season.

Russell said: “What Adrian has done with that car, it looks pretty spectacular, and Honda over the past few years with Red Bull have had a very good engine beneath them. So, we also know what they’re capable of.

“The Aston Martin was probably the most standout in terms of the car design," the Mercedes driver admitted. I think everybody was looking at that rear suspension, and it obviously visually looks very impressive.

"But it’s not a competition of how sexy it is—it’s a competition of how fast it goes around the track. So, people always look towards the fastest car, and we’ll find that out in Melbourne.

"Whoever that is, that will be the car that you wish to try and take inspiration from," Russell, a winner of five grands prix, concluded.

Newey, on the other hand, tried to downplay all the talk about his first Aston Martin, insisting he is not sure his approach to the new-for-2026 regulations was the right one.