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Fernando Alonso thinks it is possible for Aston Martin to “unlock seconds” with their 2026 F1 car once they finally avoid reliability problems and can test different set-ups.
The first of the two pre-season tests in Bahrain brought further problems for the Silverstone squad, who were already on the back foot as they struggled for mileage after arriving late to the Barcelona shakedown. Alonso hopes Aston Martin will turn a corner in the second test.
Sakhir will host the second and final official pre-season test ahead of the 2026 F1 season on February 18-20. It will be vital for Aston Martin to finally record some sustained running, as no team registered fewer laps during the first Bahrain test than Alonso and Lance Stroll did.
Alonso’s inner circle fears a year in hell in 2026 after seeing him and Stroll struggle to avoid regularly locking at the front and rear under braking in the Aston Martin AMR26 in Bahrain. The AMR26 even appears to be a difficult beast to tame, as well as it potentially being slow.
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Fernando Alonso thinks Aston Martin can find ‘seconds’ once they can test different set-ups
Stroll claimed on Thursday at the first Bahrain test that Aston Martin are looking at possibly being as much as “four seconds” slower than the best cars when the 2026 season begins in Australia. That comes with the caveat of not knowing their rivals’ fuel loads during testing.
READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s 2026 engine and aero regulations
Yet Alonso thinks Aston Martin could possibly find “seconds” just by trying different set-ups during the second Bahrain test, as he noticed swings of up to eight-tenths when they could trial different ideas this week. But Aston Martin’s reliability gremlins hampered their plans.
“There are laps where we have ups and downs of eight-tenths of a second due to changing a set-up,” Alonso outlined to AS. “So, we might unlock seconds. Hopefully, we’ll have a clearer picture next week.
“We’re realistic, we’re not going to be the fastest in Melbourne. We’re starting on the slow side, but it’s difficult to know exactly where. The second half of the season will be different for us. Even if we start slower, we can improve.”
Alonso added: “When you can’t have a clean day, you can’t work on the set-up. If we had a programme to test three different suspension stiffness settings, after the first session we have to change a sensor [and] we lose an hour, track conditions change.
“We encounter limitations in unlocking performance because we don’t run continuously. Perhaps the other teams had these difficulties in Barcelona and during the filming days, and we’re encountering them now.”
Aston Martin are paying the price for delays with their 2026 F1 car, on top of their Honda engine
Kimi Antonelli made a serious statement on Day 3 at the first 2026 Bahrain test – Who looks strongest heading into Round 1?
Aston Martin encountered problems with Honda’s 2026 F1 rules engine during the first test in Bahrain this week, as they try to gel their first car designed by Adrian Newey with a works engine. Aston Martin also faced issues with their gearbox, which they now build themselves.
Honda leaving Red Bull to make Aston Martin their new exclusive partner ensured the team also had to develop their own gearbox, having previously bought them from Mercedes with their customer power unit deal. Only now are Aston Martin ironing out their issues with it.
Newey only formally joining Aston Martin last March even helped to ensure their car design was largely delayed. Also, now-team principal Newey says Aston Martin’s 2026 car was four months behind schedule due to issues with their wind tunnel that were not fixed until April.
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