Racing
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Lance Stroll says he still believes Aston Martin can become a winning Formula 1 team despite a 2026 season start that has fallen far short of the expectations created by Adrian Newey’s arrival and the squad’s new Honda works partnership.
In an interview published on Aston Martin’s website, the Canadian said the team’s early struggles had not changed his view of the long-term project. “We've got some incredibly talented people at the AMR Technology Campus and there's huge potential with the tools like the new CoreWeave AIR Tunnel and the simulator,” Stroll said. “We have all the elements to become a winning team, it's just about unlocking that potential. I firmly believe in this project, even though right now we're experiencing some difficult times. The future is very bright and I want to ride this tough spell out and be part of the journey we're on.”
That stance comes after a bruising opening phase to Aston Martin’s campaign. The team only reached the Barcelona shakedown for the final two days of running, then completed the fewest laps of any of the 11 teams in pre-season testing in Bahrain because of reliability trouble.
Those issues carried into the opening races. The AMR26 was affected by vibrations linked to the Honda power unit, which hurt reliability and made the car physically difficult to drive, while the package also lacked pace.
Stroll said setbacks like that can both strain and reinforce belief inside a team trying to build itself into a front-runner. “Difficult moments always test you, but they also show you who really believes in what you're building,” he said. “It's easy to believe when results are coming and everything feels good. The real challenge is staying committed when things are harder and you have to work through problems together. That's part of building a top Formula 1 team. I genuinely believe the foundations we're putting in place now can lead to something very special in the future.”
He added that the key is to avoid overreacting to either the slump or any short-term improvement. “In Formula One, things move very quickly. A few months can completely change the picture, so if you get too emotional with either the highs or the lows, it's difficult to stay focused on what actually matters,” Stroll said. He added that while difficult periods are frustrating because “everyone in the team is working incredibly hard and wants more,” the answer is to “keep working, stay honest about where you need to improve and trust the process, even when the results aren't immediately there.”
There are at least some signs that Aston Martin may be moving beyond its most basic problem. Ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, Honda is reported to have made progress in eliminating the vibration issue, and Fernando Alonso said after Miami that the car “behaves like normal now.” If that holds, Aston Martin can finally shift its focus from simply getting the AMR26 through races to finding the performance Stroll still believes is in the project.