Adrian Newey: Fernando Alonso in ‘hard mental place’ over Aston Martin Honda woes

Adrian Newey admits that the current predicament for Aston Martin and Honda is a “hard mental place” for Fernando Alonso to be in.

Newey described Alonso as one of Formula 1’s all-time greats, a driver who should have more than two Drivers’ titles. But just finishing sessions has proven difficult for Aston Martin, as the team encountered further setbacks on Friday at the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso in ‘hard mental place’ over Aston Martin Honda

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust.

Aston Martin and Honda arrived in Melbourne having worked on solutions for the engine vibration issues, which hampered much of Bahrain testing for the team and engine manufacturer.

But, a new battery-related issue was uncovered in Melbourne. Alonso missed the entirety of FP1, while Newey confirmed that of the four batteries which Aston Martin brought to Melbourne, only two remained operational. Those are in the cars driven by Alonso and Lance Stroll.

FP2 was more promising for Aston Martin, with over 20 laps recorded between Alonso and Stroll. However, the session ended on a low when Stroll was told to box with an issue having been spotted.

It was always going to take time for the Aston Martin and Honda partnership to truly gel. But this chaotic starting point in F1 2026 was not anticipated.

For a driver like Alonso, chasing a final shot at winning a 33rd grand prix, and maybe a third World Championship, the present situation is hard for the Spaniard to stomach, admits Newey.

Alonso was five seconds off Oscar Piastri’s 1:19.729 which topped FP2.

“Fernando, in my opinion, he’s one of the true greats,” said Newey.

“His ability, his talent, his all-round capability, he should have won, in truth, far more than the two championships he has to his name and however many race wins.

Latest on Aston Martin from PlanetF1.com

Lance Stroll compares driving Aston Martin AMR26 to being ‘electrocuted’

Bottas and Norris jokingly tip Aston Martin for shock 2026 title fight

“He’s still, I’m not sure how old he is, nobody quite knows, but he’s in his forties. But he’s still super quick, super talented, super sharp.

“Talking to him, he doesn’t feel as if he’s suffering in any way. His eyesight is still very good, his reactions. Apparently, he’s very proud of the fact that he was the fastest starter last year on reaction time.

“So, he’s an amazing person, and so we all, I suppose, were trying to contain our hopes because we knew this was going to be a difficult year, a build year.

“Certainly, on the chassis side, we on AMR’s side, we started very late with a very compressed cycle. Not trying to make excuses, but it means we knew that certainly the first part of the season we were likely to be a bit behind, but hopefully with the potential, which I still believe we have on the chassis side, to catch back up, or would have done without the distraction that’s now caused.

“So, for Fernando, it’s a hard mental place to be in at the moment.”

Newey recently revealed that Alonso feels at risk of permanent nerve damage if he does more than 25 laps in the AMR26, due to the vibrations from the Honda engine. Stroll drew the line at 15.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll face ‘permanent nerve damage’ risk at Australian Grand Prix