While all eyes are focused on the Honda engine and the vibrations in the cockpit, Lance Stroll has revealed a less visible but equally worrying weakness for Aston Martin.
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The start of the 2026 campaign is particularly difficult for Aston Martin, whose AMR26 car is struggling to settle into the pack. Between reliability issues and a lack of overall performance, the team has been accumulating underperformances since the first races.
The return to the forefront is all the more complicated because even when the car finishes the Grand Prix, it remains clearly behind. At Suzuka, only Fernando Alonso’s consistency saved a result, but far from the standards expected for a project of this ambition.
A less publicized but very real weakness
While vibrations and issues related to the Honda power unit have dominated discussions, Lance Stroll insists on another critical point: the performance in high-speed sections.
“We know we have problems on the engine side, and there are also areas to improve on the car. But I think high-speed corners remain a weakness for us. We are simply trying to improve in all areas where it is necessary and bring performance as quickly as possible” explains Stroll.
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The arrival of Adrian Newey at Aston Martin had raised high expectations, with the hope of quickly transforming the team into a regular podium contender. Yet, despite the theoretical potential mentioned internally, the reality on track is quite different.
A race against time
The car suffers from a lack of overall balance and struggles to fully exploit its aerodynamic package, especially in high-speed sections where driver confidence is essential.
In the Aston Martin garage, the discourse remains focused on progress. Engineers are already working on developments to correct the structural weaknesses of the car, but the accumulated delay seems difficult to make up quickly.
Between engine, chassis, and aerodynamics, the projects are multiple, and every tenth gained will be crucial to relaunch a season that, for now, does not meet the stated ambitions.
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