F1 | Aston Martin forced to replace Honda engine on AMR26 after Day 1 in Bahrain. Aston Martin faces a rocky start to F1 Bahrain testing.

The Bahrain tests did not start smoothly for Aston Martin, as Honda engine issues forced the team to make a significant decision.

Ever since the announcement of Adrian Newey’s arrival, all eyes have been on Aston Martin, and even during the Barcelona shakedown there was considerable attention on the AMR26. However, the British team arrived late at Montmeló, limiting their on-track activity to just one day.

For this reason, and given the innovative solutions introduced by Newey that were only glimpsed in Spain, all eyes in Bahrain were on Lawrence Stroll’s team. Yet even here, the start was far from ideal, with the AMR26 completing only thirty-six laps on Day 1—far fewer than all the other teams.

The revelation behind Aston Martin’s problems

Mike Krack clarified what happened during the first day of F1 testing in Bahrain in a video shared on Aston Martin’s social media. “We started the session well, and for Lance, it was his first real day in the car. At the start, we focused mainly on aerodynamic tests before continuing with our program of work,” said the Chief Trackside Officer of the British team.

“Unfortunately, the data showed that something was not going right with the power unit. We tried to fix the issue during the lunch break, but we were forced to replace the engine. That is why we lost time in the afternoon. On Day 2, Fernando will be driving, and we will try to cover as many kilometers as possible and learn as much as we can together with Honda. There is a lot of work to do, but we will push to the maximum,” Krack added.

Engine overheating identified as main issue

According to observations from the first testing session, the main problem appeared to be engine overheating. Engineers attempted to resolve this by installing cooling panels, but these did not deliver the expected results.

Thus, the relationship between Aston Martin and Honda did not start in the smoothest way, with the Japanese manufacturer openly acknowledging some difficulties. It remains to be seen whether the situation will improve quickly or if more time will be needed before seeing Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll competing for higher positions on the grid.