Martin Brundle is an inset in a photo of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll for Aston Martin — Photo: © IMAGO

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Aston Martin set for 'six months' of pain to fix crisis

Aston Martin have had a tough start to the F1 season in Melbourne

Dan Ripley Global Editor

Professional F1 journalist and analyst

Friday 6 March 2026 08:59

Aston Martin's nightmare start to the Formula 1 season could stretch on for months according to F1 expert Martin Brundle.

Aston Martin have endured a torrid winter, as a new partnership with engine supplier Honda has caused numerous issues that have meant the team's cars are slow as well as unreliable out on the track.

The situation has proven so bad, that it is widely thought that neither of the drivers in Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll will be able to finish the season opening race at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday.

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Team principal Adrian Newey even revealed in an extraordinary Melbourne press conference on the eve of the new season that Alonso could do no more than 25 laps in the car, and Stroll 15, in relation to feared nerve damage such is the huge vibrating issue coming from the car.

That was never going to prove a problem for either driver in Friday's first practice session though, with Alonso being ruled out of the session with a Honda power unit problem, and Stroll only doing two laps before also encountering engine gremlins.

Brundle: Aston Martin don't have time

Speaking before the session, former F1 star and Sky Sports pundit Martin Brundle believed that while Aston Martin had the right personnel to turn around the team's fortunes, they are going to have to waste over half-a-season doing so.

Brundle said: “Clearly, it hasn't doesn't have reliability, doesn't have speed. And the big problem they have is they're the only team running Honda engines.

"Imagine how many kilometres the four Mercedes engine power unit teams did in in testing. So they're not learning anything about deployment, about starts, about pit stops and. Everything sort of falls away.

“So they've got the resource, they've got the talent. They don't have time. Ironically, what might help them a little bit is if Bahrain and Saudi Arabia can't happen for what's going on in the world at the moment, if that buys them some weeks, but I don't think you'll see that. It'll take them six months to begin to really turn that around.”

Alonso keeping faith in Honda

Alonso has previously been scathing of Honda failures during a similar downturn in performance at McLaren between 2015 and 2017, but so far has kept a more encouraging tone to the problems at the Japanese engine manufacturer:

“It has been a challenge, but every day in Sakura [Honda base] they try to find solutions. I think since Bahrain there were a couple of tests done.

“Some of the solutions are implemented on the car now. I have 100 per cent faith that Honda will fix the problems because they did it already in the past. They will always be competitive and a top engine in Formula 1.

Aston Martin Adrian Newey Fernando Alonso Martin Brundle