F1, Sportrik Media - Fernando Alonso has acknowledged that there are “many things we need to fix” at Aston Martin after another disrupted day of F1 2026 pre-season testing. The Silverstone-based team continues to struggle with reliability and limited mileage ahead of the season opener.
Across the private Barcelona shakedown, the opening three-day Bahrain test, and the majority of the final test, Aston Martin has completed just 394 laps — the lowest total among the teams. Both Alonso and Lance Stroll have faced restricted running, preventing the team from executing a complete development programme.
Early indications suggest the AMR26 is currently only ahead of new entrant Cadillac in outright pace. Despite representing the first aggressive aerodynamic concept influenced by Adrian Newey, questions have emerged regarding the underlying philosophy. One area of concern relates to potential cooling challenges affecting the new works power unit partnership with Honda.
The Japanese manufacturer’s engine is believed to be down on power, while the tightly packaged bodywork may be compounding integration difficulties. On the second day of the final test, Alonso managed only 68 laps before the AMR26 came to a halt with approximately three hours remaining in the afternoon session due to a power unit-related issue.
“It was not the easiest day with a few disruptions,” Alonso said.
“It was important to get some mileage in, but it wasn’t enough, and we couldn’t complete our run plan due to a PU-related issue that caused an early finish to the afternoon session.”
Initial speculation pointed toward a transmission problem, particularly as Aston Martin is now running its first in-house gearbox after previously sourcing from Mercedes. However, clarification confirmed the issue originated from the power unit.
Alonso delivered a direct assessment of the situation.
“There are many things we need to fix, but I know everyone at the track and at the campus is working at 100% capacity to find solutions.”
Honda later released a statement accepting responsibility and confirming that Stroll’s final-day running would be heavily restricted while efforts continue to address the setbacks. Earlier in pre-season, Stroll estimated that the AMR26 was approximately four to four-and-a-half seconds slower than the leading car — a substantial performance deficit.
The lack of consistent track time has also prevented the team from fully refining its baseline set-up under the new 2026 regulations, which place heightened emphasis on energy management and aerodynamic efficiency. Without sufficient correlation data, Aston Martin faces a compressed window to stabilise reliability before turning its attention to performance optimisation.
As the Bahrain test concludes, the immediate priority for Aston Martin and Honda is resolving fundamental power unit reliability concerns. Only once that stability is secured can the team begin addressing the broader performance gap ahead of the opening round of the 2026 season.
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