Stroll not waving white flag after Aston Martin and Honda setbacks

Lance Stroll admits that Aston Martin needs more from its AMR26 car and the Honda engine. Not everything will be fixed in time for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

However, Stroll points out that the season is long, giving Aston Martin and Honda time to chip away and keep unlocking performance. “Ideas” are floating around the Silverstone squad after a rough start to life for this new alliance.

Lance Stroll admits Aston Martin and Honda lacking power

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It was always going to be challenging for Aston Martin and Honda to hit the ground running. However, the struggles of F1 2026 pre-season were starker than what either party had been prepared for.

The AMR26 struggled for performance and reliability from the Honda engine. Less than 400 laps were completed by Aston Martin across the six days of Bahrain testing.

Stroll completed just six laps on the final day. Battery issues which flared up a day prior, and a lack of spare Honda engine parts, forced the team into limited, very short runs.

It leaves Aston Martin and Honda with plenty of work to do ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. Free practice in Melbourne will commence on March 6.

“We need more power. It’s as simple as that,” Stroll told PlanetF1.com and others in Bahrain.

“I think we’re lacking on power. And then we also need to improve the car. So, a combination of things.”

But while Stroll does not expect all of Aston Martin’s troubles to have been solved once Melbourne comes around, the white flag of surrender is not being waved.

Asked whether the issues are growing pains which have a short-term fix, or more deeply-rooted in the car, Stroll replied: “Car for sure.

“We have a lot of ideas. Will all of our problems be fixed for Melbourne? Probably not.

“But it’s a long season, 24 races. So, we keep chipping away. We try and bring as much performance as we can every weekend.

“And then on the engine side, the same, just try and bring as much performance as we can throughout the year, and we’ll see how we go.”

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Aston Martin is looking towards its F1 design guru and team principal Adrian Newey as the leader which it needs to lift the team out of this low point.

The AMR26 is Aston Martin’s first F1 machine designed under Newey.

“It’s been really nice spending time with Adrian, talking about the car, the things we need to work on, improve going forward,” said Stroll.

“We’re still learning the car, working on many things and just trying to find more performance.”

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