Aston Martin chief Adrian Newey has admitted the team did not realize until late the level of immaturity in Honda’s current engine operations ahead of its full return to F1 this year.
Honda ended its previous works partnership with Red Bull at the end of 2021 and returned to F1 full-time this year, but the Japanese manufacturer continued to provide technical support for the power units that led to further world titles and race wins with the Milton Keynes-based team until the end of last year.
But Honda’s latest engine design for the start of F1’s new era of regulations – which calls for a 50/50 split between internal combustion and electric power – has so far struggled, with Aston Martin having so far struggled badly with performance and reliability on track with its AMR26 cars.
On the first day of the new season in Melbourne on Friday, the team was only able to complete three laps in Friday’s opening practice due to an issue with its Honda power unit. In the second session, that number improved to 31 laps, but the fastest time was still the slowest team, 4.9 seconds off the pace.
Regarding the chronology of Honda’s stop-start F1 involvement over the past five years, team principal Newey said: “Honda withdrew at the end of 2021. Then they re-entered F1 at the end of 2022, so they were out of competition for about a little over a year.”
“When they reunited a lot of the original groups, they’ve now disbanded and started working on solar panels or something. So a lot of the groups that reunited were actually new to F1 and didn’t bring the experience they had before.
“Furthermore, when they returned in 2023, it was the first year that a budget cap was introduced on the engine, so all their rivals continued with their existing teams and developed from 2021 to 2022 without a budget cap.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Ted Kravitz has explained why Aston Martin is concerned engine vibrations could cause “permanent neurological damage” that could prevent Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll from completing the race in Australia.
“They re-entered with maybe only 30 percent of their original team left and now they’re in the budget cap era. So they got off to a very bad start and unfortunately they’re struggling to come back.”
But when asked if Aston Martin were aware of his level of inexperience when signing the deal with Honda in May 2023, Newey, who joined Aston Martin from Red Bull last spring, said: “No, we weren’t aware.”
“We actually realized this in November last year when Lawrence[Strol]Andy Cowell and myself went to Tokyo to discuss the rumors that were starting to emerge that the original power target was not going to be achieved in race one.
“This resulted in the fact that many of our original employees did not return when we reopened.”
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso have responded to Adrian Newey’s concerns that Aston Martin’s vibration problems could cause “permanent nerve damage”.
‘It’s a pretty scary place to be’ – Aston already on the brink of race one due to low battery
Aston Martin’s Bahrain testing struggles appeared to continue on the first day at Albert Park, a day after a press conference in Melbourne revealed the shocking extent of the team’s problems with its Honda power unit.
Due to a power unit problem, Fernando Alonso missed the entire opening practice session and Lance Stroll was only able to complete three laps. Alonso completed 18 laps in the afternoon, with Stroll adding 13, but only Cadillac’s Sergio Perez, who was unable to record a time due to a technical problem, finished below the Aston Martin pair on the timesheets.
Alonso admitted that the car felt “not much different than in Bahrain”.
Severe vibrations from the power unit are causing problems with the hybrid system’s batteries, and during Friday’s team press conference between sessions, Newey revealed that each car had already lost one battery this weekend.
“We came here with four batteries,” he said.
“Two of those batteries have had conditioning issues or communication issues, which means as we sit here today, we only have two operational batteries.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Highlights of Friday’s practice session for the Australian Grand Prix.
“When you think about the rate of battery damage that we have, we’re in a pretty scary situation.
“Of course we hope to get through the weekend and be able to start both cars, but it’s very difficult to be specific about that at the moment.”
Asked whether there was any possibility of transporting more batteries to Melbourne, Mr Newey admitted: “Unfortunately not. There is nothing.”
Meanwhile, when asked after practice whether he would be on the grid on Sunday, Alonso said: “We have no problem doing so. It’s more a matter of whether Honda has stock or not.”
However, the Spaniard said his team is working hard to turn the situation around as soon as possible.
“We are much less negative than the media and the people around us,” he said. “It’s great to tell a story, exaggerating both when someone is doing well and sometimes when someone is wrong or things aren’t going well.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Despite the obvious issues with the car, Fernando Alonso is confident Aston Martin will resolve them and improve.
“We know where we are.
“We have a big challenge in front of us, but everyone in the team has accepted it in a way and I’m doing everything I can to get out of this situation. This is F1. Unfortunately, the technology is very complex and things take a bit of time. And we’re running every day in free practice and every week from Grand Prix to Grand Prix.”
“Maybe we’re not seeing the progress that we all want, but things are happening, big and small. But there’s always progress for the team, so I hope it shows in the lap times as soon as possible.”
Sky Sports F1 Australian GP Schedule
Saturday, March 7th
0.10am: F3 sprint*
1:10am: Australian GP Practice 3 (session starts at 1:30am)*
3:05am: F2 Sprint*
4:10am: Australian GP qualifying build-up*
5am: Australian Grand Prix Qualifying*
7am: Ted’s Qualification Notebook*
9:45pm: F3 Feature Race*
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
As F1 enters a new era, Grammy-nominated Tate McRae’s ‘Just Keep Watching’ will be the new title track for Sky Sports’ F1 coverage from this season onwards.
Sunday, March 8th
12:20am: F2 Feature Race*
2:30am: Preparation for Australian Grand Prix: Grand Prix Sunday*
4am: Australian Grand Prix*
6am: Australian Grand Prix reaction: Checkered flag*
7am: Ted’s Notes*
7.55am: Australian GP race replay*
10am: Australian GP Highlights (also on Sky One)*
*Also held at Sky Sports Main Event
Watch every race of the 2026 F1 season live on Sky Sports, starting with the Australian Grand Prix this weekend. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
