Aston Martin confirms compromised Bahrain test plan after Honda battery issues

Aston Martin will run a severely limited program of short stints for the final day of pre-season testing in Bahrain due to a battery-related issue with its new Honda power unit, confirming a major setback in its preparations for the 2026 season.

Why it matters:

This disruption strikes at a critical moment for the new Aston Martin-Honda partnership, robbing the team of vital track time to understand its new AMR26 car under the latest regulations. With the season opener in Australia just days away, any significant reliability problem now could have a cascading effect on performance and development momentum for the opening races.

The details:

• The issue first emerged on Thursday, impacting Fernando Alonso's running, and persisted into Friday, limiting Lance Stroll to just two laps in the morning session.
• Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa confirmed the team is operating a "compromised" run plan consisting of very short stints with long breaks in between for data analysis.
• Honda engineers are conducting urgent simulations at their Sakura base in Japan to diagnose the battery problem.
• A shortage of spare power unit parts has compounded the issue, forcing the team to conserve its available hardware.
• Despite the lack of mileage, de la Rosa stated the team has gathered sufficient data to identify key areas for improvement on the car.

What's next:

The immediate focus is on troubleshooting the battery issue with Honda to ensure reliability for the Australian Grand Prix. The team will rely heavily on the data collected from its limited running and factory simulations to make final setup decisions. While de la Rosa expressed confidence in the team's resources and determination, this compromised test leaves Aston Martin on the back foot as the new season begins.