Fernando Alonso in a "hard mental place" after horror start to F1 2026

Adrian Newey reckons Fernando Alonso is in a “hard mental place” after Aston Martin’s disastrous start to the new Formula 1 rules cycle in 2026.

The Silverstone outfit is clearly F1’s worst team and there are problems all over its AMR26, which is believed to be restricted to 25 laps in Sunday’s Melbourne season opener.

This is the result of excessive vibrations in the new Honda power unit, which keeps causing battery failures and the issue has become so dire that the team has run out of spares in Australia.

But the problems go beyond the engine too: Aston started its wind tunnel programme four months late, contributing to the current situation where it is limiting running and during the little track time it’s had, it is several seconds off the pace.

So Alonso’s hopes of the third F1 title he has been hunting for since going back-to-back in 2006 are all but over, given he turns 45 this year and his contract expires at the end of the season.

“He’s one of the true greats,” said the Spaniard’s team principal Newey. “His ability, his talent, his all-around capability, he should have won far more than the two championships he has to his name and however many race wins [32].

Adrian Newey, Aston Martin, Lawrence Stroll, Aston Martin

Photo by: Joe Portlock / LAT Images via Getty Images

“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 in reaction time.

“So he’s an amazing person and 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 that we on AMR’s side 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.”

This is not the first time Alonso has endured trouble with a Honda engine though, as his second McLaren stint from 2015 to 2018 is best known for his fallout with the Japanese marque.

There is that famous incident from the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix where he slandered its power unit as a “GP2 engine”, but Alonso is being much kinder on the manufacturer this time around.

Fernando Alonso, McLaren MP4-30

Photo by: McLaren

“I have 100% faith that Honda will fix the problems because they did it already in the past,” he said, referring to how it powered Max Verstappen to four world titles (2021-24) at Red Bull.

“They will always be competitive and a top engine in Formula 1. As you said, the thing is probably the time that is required.

“It is not matching with my time in my career, that is something that remains to be seen. I don’t have a crystal ball to know exactly when problems will be fixed.

“We will go race by race and month by month. Hopefully, we can see improvements in the short term. That will help my decision as well for next year…”

Photos from Australian GP – Friday