Red Bull F1 star raises FIA alarm after worrying Aston Martin development

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, FIA, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

Chinese Grand Prix

Red Bull star raises FIA alarm after worrying Aston Martin development

Aston Martin have had a disastrous start to 2026

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Monday 16 March 2026 18:55

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Red Bull ambassador and former F1 mechanic Calum Nicholas has hinted that the FIA need to take action over Aston Martin's poor start to the season.

Aston Martin are still yet to have been able to finish a grand prix in 2026, with Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso suffering a double DNF once again at the Chinese Grand Prix las weekend.

The Silverstone-based outfit have been struggling with reliability issues linked with their new Honda power units amid the 2026 regulations overhaul, and the AMR26 has also been experiencing some pretty violent vibrations.

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Alonso was spotted having to take his hands off the steering wheel during the Chinese GP, with the vibrations proving too much, and the team just do not seem in a position to be able to compete in full-length grands prix as things stand.

Now, while reflecting on the Chinese GP as a whole, Red Bull ambassador Nicholas suggested that the FIA needed to take action, if the safety of 44-year-old Alonso and his team-mate Stroll is genuinely at risk.

"Congrats to Kimi on both the win, and being F1’s youngest ever pole-sitter," he began in a post on X reflecting on the weekend. "Great job. I’m glad he’s got that out the way, I think he can now look toward giving George a good run in this title fight.

"These new chassis/aero regs are actually the only thing we needed for better racing," Nicholas continued. "I think the PU’s *currently* detract from it. Let’s see what solutions come."

Later, talking about Aston Martin, Nicholas said: "If Aston have a car that is putting drivers' health genuinely at risk, the FIA need to take note. Driver safety is their most important job!"

Red Bull struggling with 2026 power unit

While their struggles are nowhere near what Aston Martin are facing as a team in the early season, Red Bull's new era of power unit production has not got off to a good start.

The team have scored just 12 points from the first two grand prix weekends, with Isack Hadjar having to retire from the Australian Grand Prix, and Max Verstappen suffering the same fate in China.

On top of this, the team seem to be one of the outfits struggling to get their turbo spooled up ready for the start of the races, with Verstappen dropping backwards from eighth on the grid down to 12th on the first lap.

Switching his attention to the team with whom he used to be a mechanic, Nicholas said about Red Bull: "A tough weekend for the Bulls. Isack did well to recover, and I’m glad he got all those race laps under his belt today after the failure in Oz!

"Brutal to watch Max go backwards today. This was never going to be an easy year. If you thought that a team would build an incredible factory and design and manufacture a completely faultless PU in four years, and go on to instant success, then you really don’t understand the technical challenge that is F1.

"As I’ve said previously, if there’s any outfit in the paddock that can make this work, it’s ORBR [Oracle Red Bull Racing]. It’s a process. We’ve had tough years before, when we do, we dig deep!"

F1 FIA Aston Martin Chinese Grand Prix Calum Nicholas