F1, Sportrik Media - Aston Martin has confirmed its F1 2026 pre-season testing programme has concluded prematurely, despite more than two hours remaining on the final day at the Bahrain International Circuit. The decision followed a severely limited outing for Lance Stroll, who completed just six laps before the team called time on its preparations.
Across the delayed private shakedown at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and six official test days in Sakhir, the AMR26 accumulated just over 400 laps. By comparison, Mercedes has surpassed 1,000 laps over the same period, underlining the scale of Aston Martin’s reliability and operational challenges.
The Silverstone-based team has been affected by issues spanning both its power unit and newly introduced in-house gearbox. Additional scrutiny surrounds the early aerodynamic philosophy of the first Aston Martin concept shaped under Adrian Newey. The tightly packaged bodywork, combined with the inaugural works partnership with Honda, has raised concerns about cooling efficiency and overall integration.
On the second day of the final test, Fernando Alonso managed only 68 laps before the AMR26 came to a halt. Honda subsequently accepted responsibility for a battery-related issue and confirmed that Stroll’s final-day running would be heavily restricted. Even so, the six laps recorded fell short of already reduced expectations.
Performance concerns compound the reliability setbacks. Stroll indicated last week that the AMR26 appeared to be four to four-and-a-half seconds slower than the leading cars — a considerable deficit heading into the season opener in Melbourne. The limited mileage has also prevented the team from refining its baseline set-up under the complex 2026 regulations.
Elsewhere in the paddock, McLaren missed the opening two hours of the final afternoon session before Lando Norris eventually returned to the track in the MCL40. The reason for the delay has not been formally disclosed.
Mercedes also encountered disruption, suffering a loss of pneumatic pressure during the morning session that curtailed Kimi Antonelli’s running. A subsequent power unit change delayed George Russell’s track time, although he has since exceeded 40 laps in the W17.
With pre-season testing now complete, Aston Martin enters the 2026 campaign facing unresolved reliability questions and limited performance data. The immediate focus will be stabilising core systems before turning attention to competitiveness ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
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