Lance Stroll described the experience of driving Aston Martin’s new car for the 2026 Formula 1 season, the AMR26, as ‘electrifying’ due to the strong vibrations generated by the Honda engine. The statement came after Adrian Newey, the team principal, warned that both Stroll and Fernando Alonso are at risk of ‘permanent nerve damage’ if they complete many consecutive laps in the Australian GP.
Read more F1 must define the situation of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia during the Chinese GP
The Silverstone team arrived at the start of the season with limited mileage, a consequence of a troubled pre-season period marked by reliability issues and extreme vibrations from the Japanese engine. Alonso even interrupted testing sessions in Bahrain, while Aston Martin had to limit practice to short and intermittent periods.
Stroll spoke at the press conference in Australia, saying that the discomfort is intense: “It’s not good. We’re trying to solve it. We have some ideas this week to fix the problems and we’ll see in FP1 if it’s better than it was in Bahrain. I don’t know how to compare it, maybe being in an electric chair, it’s not far from that feeling. It’s a very uncomfortable vibration, bad for the engine, but also bad for the human being inside the car,” he said.
The Canadian driver detailed that the number of laps that can be completed in the race in Melbourne depends directly on the progress made since the tests in Bahrain: “If we still have the same vibration problems we had in Bahrain, it will be difficult to do more than ten to fifteen laps. If we solve these problems in the last few weeks, I think we can go much further in the race, only time will tell,” he added.
Read more F1: Globo takes Formula 1 car to the São Paulo subway
Stroll reinforced his confidence in the chassis and the team’s ability to evolve throughout the season: “On the chassis side, I have no doubts. We can bring updates and become more competitive every week. On the engine, we just need to find more power. When all the pieces fit together, I’m sure we’ll be where we want to be. The important thing is to get there, trying to improve as quickly as possible,” he completed.
Aston Martin thus faces a start to the season marked by the challenge of balancing performance and safety, while working to recover the ground lost in testing and put the AMR26 in competitive conditions.
Read more F3: See the schedule and where to watch the Australian round
