F1 2026: Aston Martin's awful 'surprise' leaves rivals laughing

Fernando Alonso and Adrian Newey are pictured to a background of the 2026 Aston Martin F1 car — Photo: © IMAGO

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Aston Martin's awful 2026 'surprise' leaves F1 rivals laughing

Aston Martin have been the surprise of 2026 so far

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 22 February 2026 08:56

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Aston Martin's performance at the F1 2026 pre-season testing was laughable, but don't take it from us, take it from their rivals.

The Silverstone squad arrived late to last month's Barcelona shakedown, completing just 65 laps before flying back home, and things only got worse in Bahrain.

The team endured a nightmare couple of weeks, with Lance Stroll claiming they were 'four seconds off the pace of the top team' during the first week, before their troubles with works partner Honda were fully exposed in the second week.

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After both Stroll and his two-time champion team-mate Fernando Alonso both brought out red flags in Sakhir after suffering issues with their new AMR26 car, the full scale of the problem became clear.

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Aston Martin way off the mark

Adrian Newey's first Aston Martin F1 car hit serious trouble on Thursday when Alonso was forced to abandon it on track, with Honda later releasing a statement that confirmed they were not only running thin on parts, but had also encountered a battery-related issue that required their final day of test running to be significantly reduced.

After spending the day going in-and-out of the garage following Honda's cautious statement, Stroll brought Aston Martin's 2026 challenger back in for the final time with two hours and 20 minutes still left on the clock, racking up just six laps.

As a result, Aston Martin have been the talk of the paddock this month but for all the wrong reasons, something which is not lost on their rivals who may be thankful that the attention has been shifted away from them.

In a video which has circulated on social media platform 'X', even Alpine driver Franco Colapinto admitted how surprised he was at Aston Martin's poor testing form, saying: "Aston surprised a lot today. Yes, we’ll see how they arrive in Australia — they say they’re going to improve — but they surprised, just in the other direction."

Neither of Aston Martin's drivers are oblivious to the massive challenge that awaits them in F1's next regulations cycle and Newey will certainly have his work cut out as managing technical partner and team principal to restore what is left of his squad's reputation come the first round of the year.