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Aston Martin recorded low mileage on day one of the Bahrain test. Lance Stroll, slated to be behind the wheel all day, completed just 36 laps.
Every other team completed at least 75 laps, and seven of them reached three figures. Stroll’s best time was over five seconds off the pace, though Aston Martin didn’t appear to be running their Honda engine at full power.
Stroll’s predominant absence from the track was attributed to a power unit issue. There are concerns that Honda aren’t prepared for the start of 2026, having initially planned to withdraw from F1 before the new rules.
Bahrain pre-season day 1 done 💪
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While Fernando Alonso remained a long way adrift in the first half of day two, he did at least log 55 laps, their healthiest session so far.
Aston Martin cooling problems are reminiscent of Adrian Newey Red Bull issues
In addition to the Honda issues, Aston Martin have had to make modifications to their car to avoid overheating. This is a result of Adrian Newey’s ‘extreme’ design choices, according to Motorsport Italia.
Newey’s first Aston Martin has impressed rival teams but that’s partly because the design is laced with risk. Already, the team have been forced to open up vents in the ‘very radical’ chassis to let the engine ‘breathe’.
How many F1 titles will Newey win at Aston Martin?
This will cost them aerodynamic efficiency, but that’s a price they will have to pay to avoid further reliability issues. Newey has revisited some of the cooling solutions he used on the 2024 Red Bull.
It’s been 12 years since F1 designers had to deal with regulation changes of this magnitude. In 2014, the sport switched from V8s to the hybrid V6.
Red Bull suffered a nightmare first test at Jerez, completing just 20 laps. As Christian Horner acknowledged at the time, via BBC Sport, this was partly due to ‘chassis cooling issues’.
Top Aston Martin engineer disagreed with Adrian Newey’s 2026 ideas
Clearly, Aston Martin’s issues aren’t as severe as Red Bull’s 2014 woes. The RB10 couldn’t even cope with the European winter temperatures, let alone the 20-25 degree Bahrain heat.
But the root cause is the same in both cases. As the BBC noted at the start of the turbo/hybrid era, Newey’s ‘constant drive to package his cars as tightly as possible’ was causing problems.
This ‘no-compromise’ approach is central to his success but has also been his undoing on occasion. Red Bull were on the podium by the second race in 2014, a testament to Newey’s problem-solving capabilities.
Newey clashed with Andy Cowell during the design process, with the latter keen to prioritise the integration of the power unit. Ultimately, Lawrence Stroll sided with the aerodynamicist by making him the team principal.
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