Aston Martin technical chief Adrian Newey has said the team only recently realised how much inexperience Honda brought back when it returned as a full works engine partner for 2026, a situation that has left the AMR26 struggling for pace and reliability.
Honda formally resumed a full factory role for 2026 after ending its previous partnership with Red Bull at the close of 2021, though it continued to provide technical support to Red Bull until the end of last year. Its new power unit, built for the regulations that roughly split output between internal combustion and electrical power, has been plagued by performance and reliability problems.
Those issues were clear in Melbourne practice: Aston Martin completed just three laps in the opening session on Friday because of power unit problems. The team managed 31 laps in the second session but remained the slowest, with its best time 4.9 seconds off the pace.
Newey explained the wider context for Honda’s restart and why the manufacturer has been behind its rivals. He said Honda pulled out at the end of 2021 and began rebuilding at the end of 2022, but many of the original team had not returned. “A lot of the original group had, it now transpires, disbanded, gone to work on solar panels or whatever,” Newey said, adding that many of those who reformed were effectively fresh to Formula 1 and lacked the continuity of the previous workforce.
He also pointed to the timing of their return: by 2023 rivals had continued engine development through 2021 and 2022 without a budget cap, while Honda restarted under the new cost constraints. “They re-entered with, let’s say, only, I’m guessing, 30 per cent of their original team and now in a budget cap era. So they started very much on the back foot and unfortunately they’ve struggled to catch back up,” Newey said.
Aston Martin said it only became aware of the scale of the shortfall around November last year, when team figures including Lawrence Stroll and Andy Cowell visited Tokyo amid rumours Honda might miss its initial power targets. “No, we weren’t. We only really became aware of it kind of November of last year when we … went to Tokyo to discuss as rumours starting to suggest that their original target power they wouldn’t achieve for race one,” Newey said.
The problems are not limited to power and lap times. Severe vibrations from the power unit have damaged the hybrid battery system. Aston Martin arrived in Melbourne with four batteries but have experienced conditioning or communication issues with two of them, leaving effectively just two operational batteries — one per car — for the weekend.
“That given our kind of rate of battery damage is quite a scary place to be in,” Newey said. When asked whether both cars would be able to start the race, he said the team hoped to run both but could not be definitive. On the possibility of getting more batteries flown in, he said: “Unfortunately not. There aren’t any.”
On track, Fernando Alonso missed the first practice while Lance Stroll managed only three laps in that session. Alonso returned for 18 laps in the afternoon and Stroll completed 13 more, but both drivers were close to the back of the timesheets; only one other driver — who failed to post a proper time due to technical problems — was slower.
Alonso said the car “didn’t feel much different than in Bahrain.” Asked whether Aston Martin would make Sunday’s grid, he said the team itself was prepared but that the limiting factor was Honda’s stock: “We are OK to do it. It’s more a question for Honda, if they have a stock.” He added that the team knows where it stands and is tackling the challenge: “We have a big challenge in front of us, but everyone in the team is embracing the challenge… Maybe we don’t see the progress that we all want to see, but there are things happening, smaller or bigger, but there is always progress in teams, so let’s hope that it’s visible in lap time as soon as possible.”
Sky Sports F1 Australian GP schedule
Saturday March 7
0.10am: F3 Sprint*
1.10am: Australian GP Practice Three (session starts at 1.30am)*
3.05am: F2 Sprint*
4.10am: Australian GP Qualifying build-up*
5am: AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX QUALIFYING*
7am: Ted’s Qualifying Notebook*
9.45pm: F3 Feature Race*
Sunday March 8
12.20am: F2 Feature Race*
2.30am: Australian GP build-up: Grand Prix Sunday*
4am: THE AUSTRALIAN GRAND PRIX*
6am: Australian GP reaction: Chequered Flag*
7am: Ted’s Notebook*
7.55am: Australian GP race replay*
10am: Australian GP highlights (also on Sky One)
*Also on Sky Sports Main Event
Sky Sports will broadcast the 2026 Formula 1 season live, beginning with the Australian Grand Prix. Streamers may be able to access Sky Sports via NOW and other services subject to local availability and subscription terms.