F1 opinion: Why Aston Martin have struggled so far this season

Aston Martin have had a poor start to life with the 2026 regulations, with neither driver able to be anywhere near as competitive as they should be, with three DNFs in the opening two races.

Whilst it looked to be a dream season in hindsight, especially with Adrian Newey among the ranks - so far it has been nothing short of a disaster for the Silverstone-based team.

Here, Sports News Blitz writer and F1 fan Luca Salmasi takes a look at five key talking points from Ferrari’s second race of the season. 

Development & testing issues

There is no doubt that Aston Martin had hoped to be in a better spot than they are right now, having arrived behind schedule to both the Barcelona Shakedown and Bahrain pre-season testing.

Initial problems began because the new wind tunnel was not operational until April, leaving the team several months behind the rest of the field.

The team suffered multiple technical issues in testing, including battery problems with their new Honda engines, leading to limited running on days two and three.

Additionally, both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll struggled to keep control of the car, showcasing signs of instability, including poor handling and excessive locking.

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Honda’s reliability

Aston Martin's new partnership with a Honda power unit hasn’t had the greatest start after moving on from Mercedes.

An agreement was put in place to ensure Aston Martin has complete control over their own development, freeing themselves from the restraints and restrictions of a customer team. 

Though, it hasn’t been plain sailing.

The reliability issues began in Bahrain testing, where the AMR26 completed the fewest laps of any car on the grid, and with Honda’s infamous spell with McLaren in mind, the engine's power is only the start of the team’s problems.

Due to the nature of Aston Martin’s reliability issues from testing to the first two races, there is no definitive way to be sure how competitive their package is, and there is no clear sign of how significant Aston Martin’s troubles will be across the rest of the season.

Driver health concerns

The problems with the AMR26 are not only affecting the car’s performance but also having a serious knock-on effect on the health of its two drivers.

The most recent example of this was Fernando Alonso’s retirement after 32 laps of the Chinese Grand Prix because the engine vibration was so severe that he was starting to lose feeling in his hands.

This severe vibration problem has been evident since testing, transferring into the chassis, prompting Aston Martin to fear it could cause their drivers permanent nerve damage if not fixed.

The team have been working hard over the opening Grand Prix races to find a solution, but ultimately, they don’t have the tool right now to make a quick difference and have to keep their drivers’ health as a top priority. 

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Adrian Newey project

One of the major moves that hasn’t seemed to pay off so far was the high-profile signing of Adrian Newey in March last year as a technical partner and shareholder.

Newey’s position and his reputation from Red Bull would always mean that he would be in charge of the operations of Lawrence Stroll’s team, regardless of his job title.

Ideally, it hasn’t been perfect that Newey has been given these additional roles and the pressure to be involved in some of the operational and bureaucratic aspects of the role.

Any team that wants Newey knows where he can make a significant difference, which is by focusing on car design, something he is very well known for, rather than serving as team principal or CEO.

Recovery plans

Aston Martin’s plan to recover their disastrous start to the season focuses on two-phases

The priority is fixing the immediate reliability issues, followed by performance upgrades under the leadership and technical knowledge of Newey to improve widespread reliability and pace issues.

The team is currently implementing hardware changes to the AMR26 in the aim of solving the horrific vibration problems felt by both drivers since Bahrain in preseason.

Aston Martin's realistic goal is to accelerate car development, with the team focusing on a steep performance curve now in the hope of a more reliable car and potential podiums later in the season.

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