Crisis at Aston Martin? 'The gloves are off' as Alonso shows F1 testing frustration

Two-time F1 champion Fernando Alonso has cut an increasingly frustrated figure in the Aston Martin garage during pre-season testing in Bahrain this week.

There has been much anticipation over Adrian Newey's first Aston Martin F1 car, which Alonso and his team-mate Lance Stroll will pilot during the Silverstone squad's first season as a full works team, with help from engine partners Honda.

But the team's pre-season calendar has so far not gone according to plan. They barely made it to the Barcelona shakedown, where Stroll completed just five laps on the penultimate day before Alonso took over driving duties to take the team's lap count to 65.

Aside from Williams (who didn't attend the private Barcelona testing at all) Aston Martin had the lowest lap count by far, leaving them with a lot of catching up to do in Bahrain this week.

This appears to be something that isn't lost on the team, with Stroll giving a rather damning interview in Bahrain on Thursday where he pointed to the AMR26's livery as just about the only positive thing to take from pre-season testing so far.

And now, the challenge of understanding this seemingly flawed car in time for the Australian Grand Prix appears to have caught up to Alonso.

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Alonso loses his cool in the desert

Having only driven Newey's Aston Martin for five laps in Barcelona, Stroll was handed sole driving duties on Wednesday in Bahrain. Following an unforgettable day for the Canadian racer, Alonso took the wheel for both the Thursday AM and PM session, but finished third-from last in the timings table with 98 laps to his name.

With each lap, Aston Martin are hoping to learn more about their car, but even after completing 98 of them on Thursday, Alonso was visibly unhappy.

Antonio Lobato, the lead presenter and commentator for DAZN in Spain, took to Instagram on Thursday to post a picture of Alonso on his story following the Spaniard's day of driving on the Bahrain International Circuit.

The champion could be seen sat in the cockpit with his helmet visor open, visibly annoyed and below the image, Lobato provided some insight into Alonso's emotional state, writing: "He gets out of the car, throws the gloves down, they’re nowhere near where they wanted to be."

Aston Martin's Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack echoed this worrying sentiment when speaking to media in Bahrain, saying: "We have to play catch up, we have to work hard, we're a little bit off the pace we have to be honest with ourselves."

When does the 2026 F1 season start?

Aston Martin will be in action when the 2026 season starts in Melbourne for the Australian Grand Prix. The first race of the year takes place on March 8 at 3pm local time (AEDT), 4am GMT, and 11pm ET.

Before then, the pre-season tests in Bahrain continue from February 18 until February 20.

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