Aston Martin remains at the bottom of the Formula 1 standings after a difficult start to the 2026 season with its new Honda-powered AMR26. Team ambassador Pedro de la Rosa said the squad is still far from seeing improvement during Friday’s press conference at the Monaco Grand Prix. The car was the slowest in both practice sessions.
De la Rosa told reporters the team was not expecting its current position. “Definitely not yet,” he said when asked if the squad could see light at the end of the tunnel. The AMR26 has suffered from performance and reliability issues since switching from Mercedes customer engines to a works Honda partnership. Vibrations from the engine damaged batteries and affected drivers, though that problem has now been resolved. Fernando Alonso reported chronic understeer and random downshifts during practice. He also had a minor crash in FP1 linked to driveability concerns. Cadillac was 0.178 seconds faster than Aston Martin while Racing Bulls held a 0.546-second advantage on the short Monaco layout. The team has introduced almost no upgrades so far. De la Rosa noted that significant changes are planned around the summer and that motivation remains high inside the team. Seat issues for Alonso have improved but similar problems appeared for Lance Stroll.
