Martin Brundle believes Aston Martin’s performance will not improve until next season amid the team’s terrible start to the 2026 campaign.
F1’s new era of regulations was supposed to mark Aston’s progression to the top of the sport, long promised by team owner Lawrence Stroll. Instead, their new power unit partnership with Honda has been blighted by issues.
Both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have complained of major discomfort in the car due to the violent vibrations, with team boss Adrian Newey revealing at the season-opener in Australia that both were concerned about the prospect of “permanent nerve damage” to their hands and feet.
What’s more, both cars are consistently around four seconds a lap off the leading cars. At the last race in Japan, Canadian driver Stroll remarked that he and Alonso were in “our own Aston Martin championship” after qualifying in the last two grid spots, such was the gap to the rest of the field.
Speaking on the latest edition of Sky Sports’ F1 Show podcast, Brundle said: "That's painful, isn't it, really? That's sort of salt in the wounds, almost.
"It's a nightmare, whichever way you look at it, they've got neither speed nor reliability. And in the days of relentless Formula 1 championship calendars and cost caps, it's going to be very difficult to turn that around in the time and they've got to work out what to do first.
"They've got to get the right people in at Honda, get the right direction. It's not going to improve until 2027. It's a horror show, and we're just going to have to observe that pain.
"Of course, they will improve it to an extent, but they're missing three, four seconds sometimes per lap. I mean, that's like a different category they're in at the moment to the front runners. So, watch this space, but it'll be a while."
Alonso, the two-time world champion now 44 years of age, has a contract until the end of the season but has not yet decided whether he will extend his deal.
The next F1 race is the Miami Grand Prix on 1-3 May.
