Aston Martin is experiencing a true F1 disaster in 2026, and as a result, a nation is weeping. <\/p>\n
\nThis was supposed to be the year that Fernando Alonso<\/a> finally got a car to once again challenge for championships after two decades in the wilderness.
<\/p>\n \nThe hiring of F1 design genius Adrian Newe<\/a>y, bankrolled by billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll, was meant to usher the 44-year-old Spanish superstar back to relevance at the right end of the grid.
<\/p>\n \nInstead, the AMR26 is several seconds off the pace with Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll<\/a> unable to finish races in the early stage of the season going due to vibrations from the much-maligned Honda power unit.
<\/p>\n \nSo instead of F1 interest in Alonso\u2019s homeland being revived, ratings in Spain are down<\/a> as the maestro from Oviedo trundles along in what amount to glorified test sessions.
<\/p>\n \nThe misery at Aston Martin has been one of the storylines of the season so far, and one man who is closer to it than most is Antonio Lobato, lead F1 commentator for DAZN in Spain and a close confidant of Alonso for more than two decades.
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<\/p>\n Lobato issues withering take on Aston Martin misery<\/p>\n \nLobato\u2019s take on the whole encounter is especially withering, and he provided it in full during a fascinating interview with Spanish YouTuber Senen Moran<\/a> (you can watch it in full at the bottom of this article).
<\/p>\n \nHe claimed: “Aston Martin’s blunder right now, for me, is the biggest blunder from a team in the history of Formula 1.
<\/p>\n \n“It’s a strong team, right? A modest team, a small team, a team that has ultra-modern facilities, the most modern that exist, the best wind tunnel, they have a new simulator, they have a team of aerodynamicists and staff that they\u2019ve been putting together and taking from other teams.
<\/p>\n \n“They have Adrian Newey, there was enormous expectation placed on them, and then they go and screw it up because the partnership with Honda doesn\u2019t work. It\u2019s a disaster, a disaster.”
<\/p>\n This is brutal deja vu for Fernando Alonso<\/p>\n \nIf you are weeping for Alonso and another lost season as you read this article, prepare to weep even more. As what Lobato claims is the second-biggest blunder in F1 history also featured Fernando, and again, Honda. That was his second spell with the Woking team which began in 2015 and famously included Alonso bemoaning his \u2018GP2 engine\u2019.
<\/p>\n \nLobato continued: “But I insist, there\u2019s never been a disaster like this in the history of Formula 1. In fact, we were looking for precedents and the closest precedent is that of McLaren<\/a>-Honda.
<\/p>\n \n“In both stories, Fernando was there. He was in both. I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s bad luck, I mean, he\u2019s very good on track, but he\u2019s very bad at making decisions about where to go.”
<\/p>\n Mercedes<\/a> to Honda move was always the big fear<\/p>\n \nLobato says while the majority of experts expected the arrival of Newey to make Aston Martin real contenders, he himself always saw the change from Mercedes to Honda power units as the big looming issue.
<\/p>\n \n“I spent all of last year explaining it to people who stopped me in the street and said to me, ‘Antonio\u2026Newey, we\u2019ve signed Newey\u2019. \u2018But do you know who Newey is?\u2019 And they\u2019d say to me, ‘Yes, man, he\u2019s an engineer and all that’.
<\/p>\n \n“And I\u2019d say, ‘But what does he do?’ They\u2019d say, ‘Newey, this guy is really good’. I\u2019d say, ‘Yes, yes, but this guy works on aerodynamics, making wings, cars’.
<\/p>\n \n“But next year the big change is in the engines. And Aston Martin is going from having a Mercedes-Benz engine to having a Honda engine. And that is the key, and that\u2019s where the key is.”
<\/p>\n \nYou can watch the full interview – and it is absolutely fascinating – right here:
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