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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLance Stroll’s Aston Martin AMR26 in the pit lane at Bahrain during pre-season testing. Image: Batchelor \/ XPB Images<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLance Stroll’s Aston Martin AMR26 in the pit lane at Bahrain during pre-season testing. Image: Batchelor \/ XPB Images<\/p>\n
The Silverstone-based squad will begin its new partnership with the Japanese manufacturer at this weekend\u2019s Australian Grand Prix, but a troubled pre-season has left question marks over both reliability and outright performance of the AMR26.<\/p>\n
Running was severely limited across testing in Bahrain, where Fernando Alonso stopped on track during a race simulation and Lance Stroll completed just a handful of laps on the final day amid ongoing power unit investigations at Honda\u2019s Sakura headquarters.<\/p>\n
Vibration issues affecting the battery were identified, with no immediate fix available.<\/p>\n
So bad are Aston Martin\u2019s woes that reports have emerged that the team may elect to retire its cars from the Australian Grand Prix after just a few laps.<\/p>\n
Brundle expressed serious concerns about the team\u2019s competitiveness.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear to me that the correlation between the wind tunnel \u2013 the digital wind tunnel, the CFD \u2013 and the stopwatch on the racetrack, it looks like it\u2019s miles out, because the car didn\u2019t exactly look stuck to the road when it was running,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHonda was pulling out, they came back in. They seemed a long way behind on battery recovery \u2013 on the power recovery \u2013 and reliability, they\u2019re churning through their cost cap on the motor side already, and with parts and batteries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe big problem they have is that four teams were charging around with the Mercedes power unit. Can you imagine, after nine days of testing, how much data Mercedes has?<\/p>\n
\u201cFerrari has three teams out there. Audi has done well, but they\u2019ve only got themselves, and Honda has only got Aston Martin.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if the Aston Martin is not going around the track, which it wasn\u2019t, by and large, they\u2019ve got nil data. It\u2019s a snowball effect for them, and they\u2019re in dire trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure they\u2019ve got the resource and the brain power to do something about that. But it\u2019s going to take some time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Team representative Pedro de la Rosa described the winter as \u201cextremely tough\u201d and admitted the team is still trying to understand the fundamentals of its all-new package under F1\u2019s sweeping 2026 regulation changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are so many things on the list to be tested that we haven\u2019t had time to \u2013 physically no time,\u201d De la Rosa told F1.com.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have identified clearly what the biggest priorities are, but then you go deeper into these priorities and there\u2019s a long list of other little things.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s a bit of every area; it\u2019s impossible to say it\u2019s just one area \u2013 there are a lot of things.\u201d<\/p>\n
The team has introduced its own gearbox and rear suspension for the new rules cycle, while also integrating Honda power alongside new lubricants and sustainable fuel.<\/p>\n
De la Rosa acknowledged both sides began their 2026 preparations later than rivals after Honda\u2019s initial withdrawal from Formula 1 and the delayed start of Adrian Newey\u2019s technical leadership.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is fair to say that when they decided not to continue in F1, and then they changed their mind, this increased a bit, or delayed a bit, the process of starting to work on the 2026 regulations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not ideal, but that\u2019s something they\u2019ve already admitted, and we can only look ahead.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment, we\u2019re in the phase of understanding what we have more than the optimisation part of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite the setbacks, De la Rosa insisted the team has clarity on its direction under Newey.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really impressed with Adrian,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Fernando Alonso during Bahrain testing. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
\u201cListening to him, what a clear vision he has of what he wants from the car, and what we need to improve on the car, gives a very good guideline to everyone in the team to work in one direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe might not be where we want to be, but we know exactly what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
De la Rosa added that the team\u2019s objective at Albert Park is to run reliably, gather data and establish a baseline for development.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe honest answer is I don\u2019t really know \u2013 no one really knows,\u201d De la Rosa said when asked what to expect in Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat we know is that it\u2019s not where we wanted to be, but race-by-race we will be improving, improving, improving.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to make the long-term as short-term as possible, really. In motorsport, things work like that, but we will definitely get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
2026 F1 Australian Grand Prix \u2013 Schedule, how to watch, TV times & more<\/a><\/p>\n
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