RacingLance Stroll cut through the engine-only talk at Suzuka, saying Aston Martin’s problems run deeper than Honda’s power unit. He pointed straight at the Adrian Newey-designed AMR26, calling out losses on the straights and a lack of bite in the corners during the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Suzuka.
“I think it is a combination of power unit and car,” Stroll, Aston Martin driver, told media including RacingNews365 at Suzuka during the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, adding: “We're definitely losing huge amounts of time on the straights, but we're not the rippiest beast in the corners, so it is a combination of things.” His comments pushed the focus onto the chassis as well as the Honda-built PU, a balance the team has mostly avoided in public so far.
Honda, Aston Martin’s power-unit supplier, admitted ahead of its home race that its power-unit performance had not reached the ideal. Stroll said at Suzuka that issues with the Newey-designed AMR26 chassis are also part of the picture, which lines up with what he and the lap times have shown through the opening phase of the season.
The results show how deep the hole is. After three races, Stroll has no classified finishes. He retired in China and again in Japan, while in Australia he was not classified after returning to the race and finishing 15 laps down on winner George Russell for Mercedes. That run has left Aston Martin chasing answers on both sides of the car.
Stroll described a team short on time to test fixes as the calendar rolled from Shanghai to Suzuka with little room to breathe. “Progress in Formula 1 is never fast enough, so right now there's no progress because we've been in China and then came straight to Japan,” Stroll, Aston Martin driver, said to media including RacingNews365 at Suzuka, pointing to the limited window to trial development items.
He said the group has a plan, but he kept the expectations measured. “We haven't had much time to throw things at the car in terms of development, but we have a plan for the next few months, and what that brings in lap-time, time will tell,” Stroll, Aston Martin driver, told media including RacingNews365 at Suzuka. The message was clear. The PU needs more, the AMR26 needs more, and only a stream of upgrades and validation work will show where the biggest gains really sit.