Jolyon Palmer is getting McLaren-Honda flashbacks watching Fernando Alonso at Bahrain testing

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Things are going from bad to worse for Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin in Bahrain, and Jolyon Palmer cannot help but be reminded of his McLaren-Honda days.

Team principal Adrian Newey has admitted that Aston Martin are on the back foot heading into 2026, having turned up late to the Barcelona shakedown. Things have only deteriorated since the AMR26 hit the track in Bahrain.

Lance Stroll claimed that the team were four seconds off the pace during the first week at Sakhir. Alonso threw his gloves in fury in the garage as he was seen struggling with his front tyres locking and overall comfort.

Prove us wrong: Fernando Alonso’s faith in Adrian Newey is misguided this season after testing woes

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Much of the Silverstone outfit’s troubles have come from the Honda engine. Aston Martin found something ‘detrimental’ in the garage, according to Bernie Collins, as she observed engineers talking in the pit lane.

It has not got better for Aston Martin in the second week, as Stroll beached his car in the gravel trap on day one. On Thursday, Alonso brought out a red flag after his AMR26 stopped on track at turn four.

Jolyon Palmer gets McLaren-Honda flashbacks after seeing Fernando Alonso’s 2026 Aston Martin in Bahrain

It is not the start to the 2026 season that Alonso or Aston Martin would have hoped for, and Palmer has even likened it to the Spaniard’s McLaren days with Honda between 2015 and 2017. He struggled immensely with underwhelming machinery, and history could be repeating itself.

“It’s shades of his McLaren Honda stint, right now, isn’t it? Unfortunately, you have to draw the comparison,” said Palmer via Sky Sports F1 (19/2, 12:56 pm).

“So that was 2015, when Honda came back, they were a year late to the regs and to the hybrid engines. So McLaren went from Mercedes to Honda, much like Aston Martin have gone from Mercedes to Honda.

Will Fernando Alonso end any of these droughts before he retires?

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“This time, Honda are here for the start of the new regulations, but they are admittedly a little bit on the back foot, because they had dwindled down their programme with Red Bull and then realised they actually do want to stay in with this new generation of car.

“It famously didn’t go well. I’m not going to repeat the quotes that came out at the time, but they are very repeatable. Fernando, not getting on so well with McLaren and Honda at the time. He’s since patched up those relationships and here he is driving an Aston Martin Honda.

“Underpowered, poor reliability, hence no performance and no mileage to try and get on top of the issues and he was left fighting me in 2016 and 2017, which I don’t think is the aim of a double world champion, to be frank!”

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Will Fernando Alonso’s relationship with Honda fracture again?

Alonso is facing an ‘extra element of stress’ in 2026. He no longer has the time to be competitive in F1, and the new regulations could be his last chance to fight at the front.

The 44-year-old has not driven with Honda engines since McLaren in 2017, and it was well documented how much he detested those machines. Alonso referred to them as ‘GP2’ engines as he struggled to fight his rivals on track.

Honda know how demanding Alonso can be after working with him at McLaren. Their relationship has been mended, but if Aston Martin’s situation does not improve, it would be easy to see it fracturing again.

Alonso wants to be competitive and challenge for race wins under Newey’s leadership. But right now, his car could be the slowest on the grid at the Australian Grand Prix.