LANCE STROLL SOUNDS ALARM AS ASTON MARTIN TRAILS LEADERS BY FOUR SECONDS
Aston Martin faces a 4-second deficit! Read Fernando Alonso’s response to Lance Stroll and the latest on Adrian Newey’s AMR26 today.
Fernando Alonso gets where Lance Stroll is coming from. When Stroll said Aston Martin needs to find four seconds with the AMR26, he wasn’t just throwing out numbers; there’s a real gap to close.
But Alonso looks at it a little differently. He thinks there’s still a lot of time to be found out on track, especially as drivers get used to these radically different F1 2026 cars. Aston Martin’s not exactly starting the season in an ideal spot, with the Australian Grand Prix coming up fast and the team still working to catch up.
Right now, everyone’s watching Aston Martin. You can’t blame them. Adrian Newey is in charge of car design, Honda’s coming in with a new works engine, and the team’s new factory and wind tunnel are finally part of the picture. On paper, they’ve got what they need to take a real shot at the championship down the line.
But as Bernie Collins, Aston Martin’s former strategy chief, said, this first season might be rough. They’re still putting all the pieces together.
Testing hasn’t exactly gone to plan, either. They didn’t light up the timing sheets in Bahrain, and things started slowly in Barcelona, with just 54 laps completed.
When Bahrain testing kicked off, Stroll only managed 36 laps on day one and said the team needs to find four seconds. “I don’t think it falls from the sky,” he admitted.
Alonso was asked about all this after the session.
Stroll finished his first day with a 1:39.883, and by the end of testing, he’d shaved it down to 1:38.165. Alonso’s best was a 1:38.248 on the second day.
When people asked Alonso how far behind Aston Martin really is, he shrugged. “Hard to say. Lance said four-and-a-half seconds because that’s how far off we were in Barcelona, and it was about the same in the first two days in Bahrain. So, yeah, there’s a trend, but I don’t really know. Yesterday, I made a mistake in Turn 4, but I still improved by eight tenths by the end of the lap. That shows how many mistakes we’re making every lap right now.
“Sometimes, just changing one setting swings the lap time by eight-tenths up or down. It’s not like we need to find just two tenths. If we optimise things, we could unlock seconds.
“So, let’s see what next week brings. We’re realistic; we won’t be the fastest in Melbourne. We started slow, and we’re still behind, but it’s tough to say exactly where we’ll end up.”
Aston Martin, along with the other nine teams, still has three days of testing left in Bahrain before the season officially kicks off in Australia.
For Alonso, every bit of track time matters right now.
During testing, people pointed out he’d been locking up for three or four laps straight, including a big one. They asked if that’s the kind of challenge he’s facing in the car.
“Yes and no,” he said. “It’s one of the issues, but don’t forget, this is the first time we’ve ever built our own gearbox. First time ever in the history of the team.
“It’s a real challenge, and we need to get better. We need more data. First time building the gearbox, the differential, the clutch – all of it.
“So when we go out, and the downshifts feel rough or whatever, we come back, tweak a few settings, and head back out. Before, we used Mercedes engines and gearboxes, and everything was already sorted. Now, it’s all new for us. That’s why this testing time is so important; we need it to get better.”
SERGIO PEREZ BREAKS SILENCE ON CADILLAC’S FIRST FOUR RACES OF 2026 F1 SEASON
Discover why Sergio Perez is confident in Cadillac’s 2026 path despite urgent needs for better pace and reliability fixes.
Sergio Perez didn’t waste time sharing his thoughts on Cadillac after the first four races of the 2026 Formula 1 season.
Cadillac shows up in 2026 as F1’s newest team, but honestly, not a lot of people expected fireworks right away. With veterans like Valtteri Bottas and Perez behind the wheel, the team’s start has been a mix, some moments full of promise, others derailed by reliability issues.
Still, Cadillac isn’t just stuck at the back. Lately, they’ve been right there fighting with Aston Martin and even managed to split them in Miami, which turned a few heads.
Perez knows the team is at risk of falling behind in this crazy-fast development race, though. “We still have work to do, but I’m confident we’re on the right path,” he told reporters, including Motorsport Week.
He added, “Sometimes, once tyre degradation sets in, we can hang with the midfield, but they always seem to find another gear. There’s a long way to go this season, but we’re in a rush to find more pace. We know Aston will get stronger, and we don’t want to be left behind.”
Racing Aston Martin has actually brought Perez some enjoyment. He especially likes battling Fernando Alonso, calling those fights fair and satisfying. Still, he pointed out a weak spot: “We’re having fun with them. Racing Fernando is always great because he’s so fair. But we struggled with tyre degradation; we burnt through them too quickly. We picked the hard compound, but honestly, looking back, I should’ve gone with the soft.”
He said there’s plenty to analyse, and really, the key is getting a better grip on their car as they look ahead to Canada. “We don’t have much time, but in the short term, we need to fix the degradation. We have some ideas, but putting them together is our biggest challenge in the next few weeks.”
Cadillac may be the new kid on the block and still finding its feet, but it’s already starting to make an impact. The road out of the lower ranks won’t be easy, but they’re moving in the right direction.
HOW KIMI ANTONELLI’S THREE-RACE WIN STREAK IS REDEFINING THE MERCEDES TEAM HIERARCHY
With a 43-second gap in Miami, Antonelli proves he’s ready to lead the World Championship. Can Russell bounce back in Canada?
David Coulthard, the former Formula 1 driver, recently pointed out that Kimi Antonelli might be on track to overtake George Russell as Mercedes’ team leader.
Antonelli has been on an impressive run, clinching victories in the last three races and pulling ahead by 20 points over his main competitor and teammate, Russell.
At the Miami race, the young Italian once again outperformed his more seasoned teammate, with Russell managing only fourth place, trailing by 43 seconds.
Coulthard acknowledged Antonelli’s rapid rise in 2026, which is just his second season in F1. He highlighted Antonelli’s strengths and suggested that the Italian is, in many ways, now leading the Mercedes team.
“He’s come of age,” Coulthard said during the Up To Speed podcast.
Despite being relatively new, Antonelli has shown resilience, dealing not only with the pressure from a driver like Lando ready to strike but also with technical glitches like inconsistent paddle shifts. Coulthard mentioned how Antonelli kept his cool even when his engineer, Bono, was trying to help troubleshoot the issue in a tense moment.
“I think he’s earned the right to lead the World Championship,” Coulthard added, noting that this situation probably feels uncomfortable for George. Still, the expectations now lean heavily toward Antonelli leading the team, especially based on recent results.
Coulthard also pointed out that Russell has the experience and skill to reclaim his position as the team’s lead driver, but emphasised that only one can come out on top; someone must finish first and the other second.
The rivalry between them might start opening doors for other teams. Coulthard noted that improvements from McLaren, Ferrari, and Red Bull were already noticeable, especially in Miami.
“Winning in the best car isn’t always straightforward. Many have tried and struggled,” he said.
For Russell, who is feeling the weight of this momentum shift, the upcoming race in Canada will be crucial if he wants to close the gap and halt Antonelli’s winning streak.
