F1 fans slam 2026 Aston Martin launch as 'embarrassment' and 'disaster'

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F1 fans slam Aston Martin launch as 'embarrassment' and 'disaster'

The team launched the AMR26 on Monday night

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Tuesday 10 February 2026 13:48

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Aston Martin F1 fans who believe in dire portents, look away now.

It's not that the team weren't unveiling a potentially speedy car on Monday night, it's the way they did it.

There's been a reasonably high standard set across the field this year when it comes to livery launches, but Aston Martin were plagued with more technical gremlins than Ferrari's 1989 car.

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The online stream started late, with video and audio dropping out of sync with each other, occasional freezes, and then a complete crash. 'Crash' and 'technical issues', two phrases the team are hoping to avoid being associated with this year.

Aston Martin launch with 'GP2 stream'

Fans, eager to see what the AMR26 would look like, had piled into the livestream link, only to be left disappointed. "Aston Martin’s Formula 1 launch," one wrote, "is an embarrassment."

Others flooded social media with screenshots of the broken stream, one of which included the YouTube live chat – in which someone had simply written: 'GP2 stream'.

Another fan was more forthright, posting: "What a disaster for Aston Martin live F1 launch. Someone is going to get fired."

Perhaps predictably, Aston Martin themselves did not reference their tech issues on their own social media channels, instead posting plenty of the usual hype videos and glamour shots. They, and their fans, will hope that the issues are not a harbinger of more serious problems to come.

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