Martin Brundle predicts Aston Martin “horror show” will not be fixed before 2027

The Silverstone based outfit entered the season with major expectations following the arrival of Adrian Newey and a new works partnership with Honda, but early results have exposed deep rooted issues. At Suzuka, both cars qualified on the back row, around four seconds off the leaders, a deficit that underlined how far they have fallen.

Lance Stroll summed up the situation for he and his teammate Fernando Alonso after the race in Japan with a blunt assessment: “Our own Aston Martin championship”.

The comment reflected the scale of the gap, with Aston Martin currently operating outside the competitive window against the leading teams. What was expected to be a step forward season has instead become an exercise in damage limitation, as the team struggles to unlock performance from its AMR26 package.

Brundle delivered a stark verdict on the team’s current position: “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," declared Brundle, speaking on the Sky F1 Podcast.

The performance gap remains severe, with Brundle emphasising how far Aston Martin has dropped relative to the front runners: “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.”

A key factor behind Aston Martin’s struggles has been persistent vibration issues within the Honda power unit, which have limited running and compromised reliability across the opening races.

These problems have prevented the team from fully exploiting the AMR26 and slowed development progress at a critical stage of the season.

While Newey remains confident there is underlying potential in the chassis, improvements are closely tied to resolving the power unit instability. Honda is expected to benefit from Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities under the 2026 regulations, offering a pathway to close the gap over time.

For now, Aston Martin faces a season focused on incremental gains rather than immediate results. With Formula 1 heading to Miami next, the team enters a crucial phase of development, but a genuine return to competitiveness appears to be a longer term objective extending beyond the current campaign.