Lance Stroll Admits Adrian Newey’s Aston Martin Chassis Shares Blame for Poor 2026 Start
Lance Stroll has admitted that Aston Martin’s woeful start to the 2026 Formula 1 season is not solely down to engine unreliability but also stems from flaws in Adrian Newey’s highly anticipated chassis design, RacingNews365 reports.
The Canadian driver has endured a miserable opening three rounds to the championship. He has yet to see a conventional chequered flag this year having suffered consecutive retirements in China and Japan.
His Australian Grand Prix was equally disastrous where a mid-race stoppage resulted in a rare ‘not classified’ finish, eventually crossing the line a staggering 15 laps behind race winner George Russell.
A combination of car and engine woes
While the paddock has largely blamed the Silverstone-based outfit’s poor form on a fragile and underperforming power unit, Stroll believes the AMR26 chassis is also failing to hit its targets. The aerodynamic concept penned by legendary designer Adrian Newey is reportedly struggling to deliver the necessary grip through the twisting sections of the calendar.
Speaking to the media about the team’s ongoing difficulties Stroll offered a remarkably candid assessment of their current package.
«I think it is a combination of power unit and car,» the Canadian explained. «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.»
Development stalled by relentless schedule
The relentless pace of the early-season calendar has further hampered Aston Martin’s ability to introduce immediate fixes to the car. The back-to-back nature of the recent flyaway races meant the factory had virtually no time to manufacture and ship substantial upgrades.
«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 added. «We haven’t had much time to throw things at the car in terms of development.»
Despite the bleak current situation the Aston Martin driver remains hopeful that the engineering team can reverse their fortunes. He noted that the squad has a concrete development plan mapped out for the coming months, though he conceded that only time will reveal if those factory upgrades can translate into meaningful lap time on the circuit.
