Aston Martin F1: Fernando Alonso admits team is 'at square one' as livery revealed ahead of Bahrain test
Fernando Alonso did not mince his words when asked about Aston Martin’s chances this season.
At Ithra in Saudi Arabia, Aston Martin unveiled the livery for the AMR26, their F1 challenger for 2026.
It’s the first car that new team principal Adrian Newey has been able to truly have an input on, having left Red Bull in 2024. Aston Martin is now a full works team, and has entered a new engine partnership with Honda - the only team on the grid to be supplied by the Japanese manufacturer.
An all-black version of the car was debuted during the private test in Barcelona last month, with some unique design features that raised eyebrows around the Circuit de Catalunya. Chief among them were the rear pushrod suspension arms being attached close to the rear wing mount, a bulbous front wing and tube-shaped, downward-pointing sidepods.
Fans suggested that the car could be a front-running contender, especially with Newey’s penchant for nailing new regulations in their first year - as he did at McLaren in the 1990s and with Red Bull in the ground-effect era.
But following a disrupted run plan at the Spain test, driver Fernando Alonso has tried to temper expectations.
Speaking to Spanish outlet AS, Alonso said: “We’re definitely behind, we’re at square one. I don’t think we’ve even started.
“In Barcelona we were able to run some track time, but I treated it more like a filming day - a shakedown that other teams did privately at Silverstone with 200 kilometres that we couldn’t do.
“Some parts of the car weren’t validated for top speed, and we had to limit ourselves to 280 kilometres per hour on the straights. It’s just one example of how the preparation was pushed to the limit.
“Bahrain will be our very first test, our very first contact with the car. Barcelona was just starting the car and seeing that everything worked.”
Newey said: “2026 is a rare moment in Formula One because, for the first time, the chassis and power unit regulations have changed together. With brand-new regulations, the best philosophy is never immediately obvious, and your understanding evolves as the car develops.
“With the AMR26 we've taken a holistic approach: it's not about one standout component, but how the full package works together. The focus has been on strong fundamentals, development potential, and a car that Lance and Fernando can hopefully extract performance from consistently.”
Testing in Bahrain begins tomorrow (February 11) at 7am UK time. That will be the first of two three-day tests, with the oher starting on Wednesday, February 18.