Chaos at Aston Martin. Newey and Stroll raise the alarm over the new single-seater. The problem appears more serious than expected. A formation lap, a few passes across the finish line, and then retirement. This could be the dramatic scenario Aston Martin might face on Sunday, when the first Grand Prix of the 2026 Formula One season will be held in Australia. A complicated situation already evident during the first tests in Bahrain that sent Fernando Alonso into a rage. But what is happening to the team that last year was aiming to become a top contender? And why is the relationship between Adrian Newey and engine supplier Honda already on shaky ground?

Expectations were extremely high. “We have built a team that will fight for the World Championship.” That is what Lawrence Stroll, owner of Aston Martin, said five months ago when celebrating the arrival of the genius Adrian Newey.

The reality? Quite different. The AMR26, the first green creation of the English designer, turned out to be a disaster during the early-season tests, to the point that it could not complete more than 14 laps without suffering mechanical failures. And now Honda is under scrutiny. After its successful years with Red Bull, the Japanese manufacturer joined Stroll’s ambitious project, supplying engines to the Silverstone team for the first time. However, the Japanese Power Unit has proved far from expectations.

In Bahrain, during pre-season testing, Alonso and Stroll spent more time in the garage than on track, forced to run at reduced power and with large cooling vents on the engine cover to help the power unit breathe. “The engine cannot reach 250 kW of electric power, let alone the 350 kW required by the regulations,” Adrian Newey admitted during the F1 Commission, according to the BBC. In other words: the battery does not recharge properly and the car cannot complete more than about ten laps.

Honda’s response, however, was quick. “As far as I know, even he (Newey) does not have a clear idea of the problems,” explained Ikuo Takeshi, head of the F1 project, “and during the Red Bull years nothing like this ever happened to us.” In short, not the ideal atmosphere just days before the start of the season.

Accusations aside, an emergency plan is already underway: Aston Martin has sent Andy Cowell to Japan, the former Team Principal of the team and, above all, the engine mastermind behind Mercedes during the dominant years of the hybrid era, to try to solve the reliability issue. Meanwhile, in Sakura, home of Honda’s factory, HRC technicians are working to eliminate the vibrations which, while the car is running, are reportedly strong enough to cause the battery of the hybrid system to fail.