Explained: The issue that hit Adrian Newey’s radical Aston Martin in F1 testing

Adrian Newey’s aggressive Aston Martin Formula 1 car managed only limited mileage on the opening day of the 2026 Bahrain test due to a “data anomaly” in the engine.

Aston Martin turned heads late last month when the team’s aggressive AMR26 hit the track in the Barcelona shakedown.

The AMR26 is Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey’s first car he has designed for the outfit since he joined it from Red Bull early last season.

He admitted ahead of the Bahrain pre-season test that Aston Martin was several months behind its rivals in the development of its new car, owing to its windtunnel not being up and running until last April.

Complicating Aston Martin’s pre-season is the fact it is developing an aggressive new car while also running with Honda engines for the first time, having previously used Mercedes power units.

Lance Stroll’s running limited to under 40 laps on day one of Bahrain test

On the opening day of Bahrain testing, Lance Stroll was tasked with putting the AMR26 through its paces.

However, the Canadian only managed a total of 36 laps after an issue was detected with his Honda power unit.

Aston Martin has confirmed that an “anomaly” was detected in the power unit, which required investigation and kept Stroll sidelined for some time in the afternoon.

“The Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 team commenced its Bahrain testing programme at the Bahrain International Circuit today, with Lance Stroll returning to the cockpit of the AMR26,” a statement read.

“Lance headed out on track in the morning and completed 36 laps across the day.

“The Honda team detected a data anomaly with the power unit in the afternoon, which required further analysis and limited Lance’s running.

“This also marks the first time the AMR26 has run on track since the unveiling of its 2026 livery at Ithra in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, on Monday.

“Lance is scheduled to return to the AMR26 on Friday, while Fernando Alonso will take to the track tomorrow for his first run in Bahrain.”

As a result of the limited track running, Stroll was second-to-last in the standings with a 1m39.883s compared to a 1m34.669s from pacesetter Lando Norris in the McLaren.

Only Alpine’s Franco Colapinto was slower than Stroll, with the Argentinian stopping on track in the morning session and bringing out one of two red flags seen on Wednesday.