“We are in a bit of a unique situation,” Mike Krack, Aston Martin’s\u00a0chief trackside officer, told F1 after the day’s running.<\/p>\n
“We welcome Honda, our new power unit partner.\u00a0We have made our first gearbox in very many, many years, and you pair that with new chassis regulations, new power unit regulations… basically you could say it’s the worst case or the best case, but it’s a huge change for us as a team, to be a works team, a factory team, together with these regulations. Then we have Adrian [Newey] on board, so it’s all very exciting and a lot of change.<\/p>\n
![\"Lance](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/lance-stroll-aston-martin.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin<\/p>\n
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing<\/p>\n
“Formula 1 is not waiting for you, so you have to be ready.\u00a0We were now a little bit late, but we made it to this test, so I think we can be proud and happy of that achievement.”<\/p>\n
According to the Spanish publication, Stroll\u2019s fastest time was a 1m46.404s, some 30 seconds slower than Mercedes<\/a>\u2019 benchmark.\u00a0He completed just five laps.<\/p>\n The AMR26 is Aston\u2019s first Adrian Newey-designed challenger, as well as the only Honda-powered machinery on the grid, meaning the Japanese manufacturer has been unable to collect any data so far.<\/p>\n Read Also:<\/p>\n Last week, Honda leaders displayed startling pessimism about their new F1 power unit. \u201cThe 2026 regulations are technically extremely challenging, and perhaps we will struggle,\u201d said Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing Corporation.<\/p>\n Tetsushi Kakuda, Honda\u2019s F1 project leader, told Motorsport.com: \u201cThe electrification side is progressing as planned. However, that is not necessarily the case for the internal combustion engine.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n We want your opinion!<\/p>\n What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?<\/p>\n