Rob Smedley Tells Aston Martin To Stop Blaming Each Other And Deliver At Spa

Aston Martin have endured a nightmare start to the 2026 Formula 1 season, and now a prominent voice from the paddock has delivered a blunt verdict on their situation.
F1 legend Rob Smedley has told the struggling Silverstone-based outfit to simply “get the f*** on with it” and sort out their internal problems before it is too late.
The team collected just one point from their opening seven grand prix weekends, a deeply troubling return for a team that has invested heavily in talent and infrastructure in recent years.
The Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix proved to be a particular low point, with both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso qualifying in 21st and 22nd respectively before retiring from the race entirely.
Adrian Newey joined the team in March 2025 and carries enormous expectations, though both the power unit and chassis are widely considered to be well below the standard required to compete at the front.
Honda, who supply Aston Martin’s power unit, have been handed two extra homologations under the FIA’s additional development and upgrade opportunities scheme, offering some relief on the engine side.
However, one F1 expert has suggested that even if Aston Martin had a Mercedes power unit, their chassis limitations would still see them fighting around the level of Haas in the competitive order.
Speaking on the High Performance podcast with Jake Humphrey, Smedley urged the team to come together, be honest, and deliver the significant upgrade package expected ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix.
“They started the season with a really slow car, with not the best power unit, they’ve got some very clever people there, they just have to work together and get themselves out the s***, it’s as simple as that, right?” Smedley said.
“You’ve got to get in a meeting. You’ve got to get direction. You’ve got to disagree and commit in that meeting and just get the f** on with it, right? That’s what they’re all paid for. So, just go and get on with it and act like a team and stop blaming each other.”
Smedley also expressed cautious optimism that a meaningful upgrade could still reshape Aston Martin’s season before the summer break arrives.
“In Belgium, so pre-summer. We don’t have to wait that long, so six weeks time. We will see and I think you can judge it on that. I mean, they have to make a step forward from where they are now,” he added.
Former F1 team boss Otmar Szafnauer also weighed in, suggesting the team had deliberately held back smaller updates in favour of concentrating resources on one larger package.
“They said, ‘No, no, no. We’re not doing any of that.’ Probably to save their cost-cap money for one big B-spec car and let’s see what happens in Spa. But from what I hear internally, it’s going to be tough,” Szafnauer said.
The Belgian Grand Prix now looms as a critical moment for Aston Martin, with Newey, Enrico Cardile, and the wider technical team all under pressure to demonstrate genuine progress.
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