Lance Stroll’s onboard testing footage highlighted a key issue with Aston Martin’s gearbox

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Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll goes into the Australian Grand Prix with the least experience of Formula 1’s new 2026 cars after testing.

Fernando Alonso will be frustrated with how Aston Martin’s pre-season testing campaign unfolded, but he still managed to complete three times as much distance as Lance Stroll during the final three days in Bahrain.

Across all the running in Bahrain, Aston Martin covered just over half of the distance that the second-worst team, newcomers Cadillac, managed, highlighting just how bad Adrian Newey’s team have prepared for this year’s regulation changes.

A frank verdict from Stroll as Aston Martin look for answers 👀

Finish the sentence 'In Australia, Aston Martin will finish XX and XX'…

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The main culprit is power unit supplier Honda, who appear to be well off the pace of their rivals, both in terms of reliability and outright speed.

Newey complained about Honda’s energy recovery in a recent F1 Commission meeting, but there are also concerns about Aston Martin’s gearbox this season.

It’s the first time Aston Martin have built their own gearbox, but journalist and broadcaster Tim Hauraney spotted something on Stroll’s onboard footage during testing that suggests it’s not up to the required standard to deal with the demands of this year’s cars.

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Aston Martin gearbox issue emerges while watching Lance Stroll’s onboard testing footage

Hauraney was speaking about Aston Martin’s woes on the Nailing the Apex Podcast.

He explained: “The power unit is going to be challenging, especially when the power unit’s not working the way it needs to be working.

“And then when you look at the gearbox itself, and this is sort of the next thing I wanted to use Aston Martin to transition into because I feel like they’re a perfect jumping point for this conversation about how drivers are driving these cars and how they’re using the gearbox to regen and tackle sort of the slower speed corners and slow to medium speed corners.

“I was riding on board with I think it was Lance on Friday and watching the downshifts heading into turn 10.

“He had to be very slow, very methodical with it and couldn’t lean on that gearbox and engine because the engine is being used as a generator for the battery itself.”

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Lance Stroll missed out on a full day of testing as Honda’s power unit continues to struggle

When Stroll was given the privilege of driving the AMR26 for the first time during the Barcelona shakedown, he would have quickly wished that Alonso had been awarded that particular honour.

He managed a handful of laps before returning to the pit lane and wasn’t seen again before Alonso completed nearly a full race distance on the final day, albeit with power restrictions in place.

Lawrence Stroll has been furious about Aston Martin’s testing running so far, and wouldn’t have enjoyed seeing his son bring out a red flag during his running on Wednesday.

Stroll didn’t appear to be at fault for the spin at turn 11, although David Croft thinks Newey wouldn’t have been happy with how the Aston Martin was recovered, as it exposed the bottom of his car to all of their rivals.

The final day of testing was supposed to be dedicated to Stroll, but after a handful of installation laps, Honda warned Aston Martin that they had spotted a problem.

An initial statement suggested Stroll’s running would be limited to short stints in the car, but before the timer had even run out on the day’s testing, Stroll knew he wouldn’t be getting back into the car until Melbourne.

It leaves the Canadian driver massively on the back foot heading into a vital season for Aston Martin.