Fernando Alonso stated that Aston Martin is one month behind its competitors regarding the development of the car for the 2026 Formula 1 season. The Spanish driver explained that while other teams had already been on track since the beginning of January, Aston Martin had a more complicated start, conducting only limited tests in Barcelona before facing many problems in pre-season testing in Bahrain.
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Alonso highlighted that the lack of early testing, such as filming days and the collective shakedown in Barcelona, compromised the team’s progress: “Missing Barcelona was a big problem, because not only did we miss the test, but also the filming days before. Some teams ran on January 09, so they have already had a month analyzing data and solving problems,” he stated. He explained that due to the lack of track time, Aston Martin has encountered difficulties in every test session, identifying small problems with every lap, which affects the car’s development.
The two-time champion also commented on the impact of the lack of continuous testing: “When you don’t do consecutive laps without interruptions, you don’t progress with the car’s setup. If we have a program to test three different suspension stiffnesses, we do one lap and then something appears in the data, we have to check or change the sensor, and then it’s already late because the track has changed,” he added.
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Despite these challenges, Alonso and the team still have hopes for the 2026 season. The experienced driver highlighted that while other teams solved these problems earlier, Aston Martin is still facing these limitations now.
On the other hand, Aston Martin ambassador and former F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa expressed optimism, highlighting that the arrival of Adrian Newey at the team has brought solid leadership. De la Rosa stated that although the team hasn’t changed much, Newey’s leadership has been fundamental in guiding the team through difficulties: “After a difficult day of testing, Adrian’s leadership was so strong that the whole team knows exactly what to do,” the former driver concluded.
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