For Aston Martin, 2026 marks the beginning of a new and highly ambitious chapter. It will be the year of the exclusive partnership with Honda for power unit supply, as well as the first full season with Adrian Newey leading the technical project. However, it is a project that started on the back foot: the four months lost at the start of 2025 due to wind tunnel calibration issues significantly slowed down early development.
There is also another major unknown, namely the Japanese manufacturer’s power unit itself. Honda has officially returned to Formula 1 after leaving the sport at the end of 2020. The shift towards hybrid engines with an even stronger emphasis on the electrical component pushed Honda to come back in search of new success, and the partnership with Aston Martin felt almost natural given the Silverstone team’s long-term ambitions.
But what can the British outfit realistically aim for? Speaking on the sidelines of the AMR26 livery launch in Saudi Arabia, Fernando Alonso chose not to overcommit, but he did offer some clues about what lies ahead for the team, reflecting on the Barcelona test and the expectations heading into the championship.
In Bahrain to recover the mileage lost in Barcelona
During the Spanish test, Aston Martin arrived a few days behind schedule due to assembly issues, with some components only reaching Barcelona by plane late on Wednesday evening. A series of setbacks forced the Silverstone-based team to adopt a different programme compared to their rivals, focusing heavily on constant-speed runs along the straights to avoid placing excessive stress on the mechanical components.
“We ran very little in Barcelona and we didn’t have time to do a shakedown before going there, so for us those were really the first kilometres with the car and we weren’t even pushing to the limit. We had to run at constant speed on the straights. There are several factors that make it difficult for us to estimate things and we didn’t pay too much attention to it,” Fernando Alonso explained.
As is often the case when tackling a completely new project, especially with a manufacturer the team has never worked with directly, areas to refine and unexplored margins inevitably emerge. The process of understanding the car will continue in Bahrain, where Aston Martin will need to run more consistently in order to make up for the time lost in Barcelona.
“We found things to improve from Barcelona to Bahrain. Some things are simply about cockpit comfort, seat position. Others require deeper investigation, like improving cooling or reducing vibrations. All absolutely normal issues for a first day of testing. In Bahrain we will have a clearer picture.”
Power unit question marks and the “long game” strategy
The car, however, remains a single integrated package, and engine performance—especially in the opening races—will play a crucial role in defining the competitive order. Alonso did not go into detail, but he hinted that the information he has matches what has emerged from recent statements by Honda, which admitted to being slightly behind in the development of the internal combustion side of the new power unit.
“Obviously we don’t have a lot of information. As I said, in Barcelona, even with the limitations we had on the straights, having to drive at constant speed and everything else, since it was effectively a shakedown for us, we didn’t have a clear picture of power differences and things like that. I know the same information that you know, the messages where [Honda] said they were a bit behind,” the Spaniard said.
On the other hand, there is a strong awareness within the team that this season will be a “long game”. As often happens at the dawn of a new technical regulation era, unless one team emerges as clearly superior, the competitive order can fluctuate from race to race. Each circuit can highlight or penalise specific characteristics of a car, reshuffling the hierarchy.
However, Alonso remains confident that even if Honda were to start slightly behind its rivals, there would still be opportunities to recover through development. That said, working on the power unit requires long lead times, and there is no guarantee that any potential solutions could be introduced before the end of the season.
On the aerodynamic side, development is expected to be much faster. The margin for improvement is significant, and teams will be able to progress by observing and interpreting the technical choices made by their competitors.
“But it’s a long game and I’m sure that even if we start a bit behind, there will be plenty of time to recover. The second part of the season will be much more important than the first, from my point of view.”
“The only really special thing this year is that the development rate will be very, very high for everyone, because of the new regulations and also the complexity of the power units. That’s why I’m not too worried about Bahrain or the first races: I believe that the championship, and whether you have a good season or not, will be decided more in the second half than in the first.”
As the F1 world moves toward the season opener, Fernando Alonso’s pragmatism shows that the 2026 regulations are a marathon, not a sprint. By prioritizing long-term evolution and technical stability over immediate “glory runs,” Aston Martin is positioning itself to capitalize on the steep learning curve that defines a new era. For the two-time world champion, the real race starts once the initial teething problems are solved and the full potential of the Newey-Honda collaboration begins to surface. Whether they can bridge the gap in time to challenge for the title remains the sport’s biggest question mark, but as Alonso suggests, the final chapter of 2026 hasn’t been written yet.
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