The telemetry does suggest that the German manufacturer’s power unit is lacking in horsepower and electrical efficiency of the Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull engines.
However, their discrepancy to the best engines is reasonable enough given their relative inexperience. The Audi power unit is also proving to be relatively reliable, even if there have been a few stoppages.
There Audi engine has become more dependable throughout the three weeks of running in Barcelona and Bahrain – and is certainly in a better place than Aston Martin’s Honda power.
Likely backmarkers
Unlike the teams mentioned above, who could all be reasonably categorised as likely midfield outfits, Cadillac and Aston Martin are almost unanimously seen as backmarkers.
In many ways, this is not a criticism towards Cadillac. Given that the US team are entering their first F1 campaign, the team under Graeme Lowdon’s leadership look reasonable.
From a reliability standpoint, they have encountered their fair share of technical and mechanical failures – with only Aston Martin completing fewer laps.
Still, Cadillac are unlikely to be a laughing stock come Australia. They are undoubtedly lacking pace, but they are still adapting well to the demands of F1 – considering their inexperience.
This same grace cannot be afforded to Aston Martin, who are objectively the biggest losers from pre-season.
Aston Martin in trouble
Within a few minutes of the AMR26 making its debut in Barcelona, the excitement surrounding Adrian Newey’s latest challenger was extinguished.
A stoppage after just five laps in Spain was an early indication of what would follow. Since then, Aston Martin has completed nowhere near the same number of laps as the other teams.
Moreover, the laps Aston have completed have only been in relatively short five-lap stints. The AMR26 has not finished a single race simulation, which poses genuine questions if they will complete race distance in Australia.
The Honda engine is evidently a point of concern. In almost every area – horsepower, harvesting, reliability – the Japanese power unit is lagging behind
Aston Martin could lose over a second per lap from the Honda engine alone. Concerningly, this is not even their biggest issue. First and foremost, the primary objective will be to ensure the Honda power unit finishes a race.
Then again, the AMR26’s issues go far beyond to this area. Aston Martin’s gearbox is understood to be a massive problem – which is compounding the car’s other vulnerabilities.
Moreover, the radical elements introduced by Adrian Newey are not well integrated, creating a car that is very difficult to drive.
Perhaps more worryingly, Aston haven’t completed enough laps to even understand their package. This means they are essentially going into the upcoming season blind – both on the engine and aerodynamic side.
In theory, updates could help improve the situation. However, any meaningful modifications could take months to arrive.
