'A huge amount of things that you learn' – The unseen progress at Aston Martin despite China difficulties

The start of the 2026 Formula 1 season has been one to forget for Aston Martin, but the squad are making progress despite failing to improve their fortunes at the Chinese Grand Prix.

As at the opening round of the season in Melbourne, both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to reach the chequered flag at the Shanghai International Circuit during another difficult weekend.

But despite another double retirement and general lack of pace, the team believes they've made another step in the right direction on the path towards the front of the F1 grid.

What happened in China?

After just one hour of practice, teams and drivers prepared for the first Sprint of the season, with Alonso and Stroll lining up P18 and P19 for the 19-lap affair. Both then made it to the chequered flag, having each climbed up one spot from their starting positions.

Qualifying for the Grand Prix was much of the same, Alonso P19 and Stroll P21 on the grid, with the former more than 3 seconds adrift of the top time set by eventual polesitter and race winner, Kimi Antonelli.

But as in Australia, neither driver saw the finish with Stroll pulling off the track at Turn 1 on Lap 9 – which necessitated the race's only Safety Car – while Alonso reached Lap 32 before pulling into the garage.

What are Aston Martin's problems?

With design guru Adrian Newey having joined Aston Martin towards the start of 2025, ahead of arguably the sport's biggest-ever technical changes being introduced this term – including chassis and power units – much was expected of the team in 2026.

But that potential has so far failed to materialise, the car behind in development compared with rivals in pre-season, and perhaps more significantly, struggling for reliability.

Engine provider Honda, returning to the sport, has struggled to find both performance and reliability, with noticeable vibrations in the car causing fundamental issues.

What did the drivers say?

Alonso and Stroll were early visitors to the media pen post-race, with both reaffirming the key area where Aston Martin needs to focus ahead of the next round in Japan – and beyond.

"Just turned into Turn 1 and everything switched off. I don't know what the issue was, if it was engine, battery, something electronic, I'm not sure exactly," said Stroll on the reason for his retirement.

"We know the issues we have, so we just need to keep working on them. Try and improve the car in Japan, [improve] the engine, just keep looking for performance in other areas."

Alonso added: "It was difficult. Today we found more vibrations than any other session in the weekend so physically I could not continue much longer."

Why every mile is crucial

With reliability an issue, mileage during Grand Prix weekends has unsurprisingly become a key focal point for the Silverstone-based team. Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack revealed during the China event that despite another double retirement and being off the pace, crucial unseen learning is taking place that will be vital in turning Aston Martin's fortunes around.

"I think you would probably be laughing if I said we have made progress because today it did not look like massive progress," he said.

"But when I look, for example, we have never done so many laps. On the energy side, it is something that I think every team will confirm. You discover new things by running alone, but you also discover things when you run with others.

"We have seen things when we were in the Sprint. With cars together on Lap 1, on a restart, after a pit stop. So, there is a huge amount of things that you learn.

"Also you find bugs. You find issues where you think, 'why did that happen now?' And you work through it and then you realise it is this kind of setting or this part of the regulations that made this happen. And you know for the next time.

"So, from that point of view, I said it before, it is important to run. It is important to accumulate knowledge. And it is not only on the energy, we have also a different tyre generation that is behaving differently. So all these things, if you are in the garage, you will never find out."