Nigel Mansell says "disappointing" Aston Martin and "naive" Honda failure shocked Formula 1 world

The Silverstone based team endured another difficult weekend in Miami, where both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll finished a lap down as Aston Martin’s season threatening power unit problems continued to haunt them.

Pre-season testing had already exposed severe vibration issues with Honda’s new engine package, but the scale of the crisis became fully apparent in Australia when Newey revealed Alonso could not safely drive more than 25 consecutive laps without risking permanent nerve damage to his hands.

Neither Aston Martin finished the opening races in Australia and China before Alonso finally secured the team’s first classified finish of the season in Japan. While the team confirmed in Miami that Honda had made some progress in reducing the vibrations, Aston Martin admitted they remain significantly lacking in outright pace.

1992 Formula 1 World Champion Nigel Mansell admitted to Ace Odds media team, that he was left shocked by Aston Martin’s disastrous start to the campaign: “I think the whole world is in shock. The whole racing world is in shock.

“Let’s be fair, everybody thought, including myself, Aston Martin would be a front runner this year. And to have the, literally, the catastrophic challenges that they’ve got, and to hear the kind of things that the drivers are having to be subjected to with the vibrations and that and possible nerve damage, it’s, it’s almost unheard of.

"It’s a little bit worrying. It really is, and I really hope for them, that they can overcome some of the challenges quickly, but from what I understand, it’s not gonna be quick, it’s going to be a long haul thing.”

Mansell also criticised Honda’s late start to the 2026 engine programme, suggesting the Japanese manufacturer underestimated the scale of the challenge facing them under Formula 1’s radically different regulations: “Naivety as well,.

“I think it’s a bit naive that any engine manufacturer thinks they can come in, a year or so behind all the other manufacturers, and think they can be competitive without all that.

“From what I’ve been told, a lot of the past engineers had been let go to different projects, because they started late with this new project, so they’ve started again with a completely new team, and it’s going to be very tough for them” Mansell explained.

The comments underline the growing concern around Aston Martin’s long term competitiveness despite their vast investment, state of the art new factory and the arrival of Newey as managing technical partner.

“If they have the staying power and the patience, they will get it right. It’s a disappointment in between, and as a big racing fan, I’m so upset for them and so disappointed for them and disappointed for the fans to see the struggle they’re having," Mansell added.

For now, Aston Martin face a brutal reality. While rivals Mercedes and McLaren continue to fight at the front, the green team remain trapped in survival mode with reliability, drivability and basic competitiveness all still major concerns heading into the European leg of the season.