Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin’s new Honda engine needs more time to develop as they have fallen behind in Formula One’s “battery world championship”.
Aston Martin have struggled to adjust to the 2026 season’s new regulations, with Alonso retiring from both the Australian Grand Prix and Chinese Grand Prix.
Despite their engine problems, which have led to issues with the car’s batteries, Alonso has made positive starts to both races this year.
He climbed from 17th to tenth on the first lap in Melbourne before going from 18th to tenth in Shanghai, before the battery problems caught up to them.
Alonso insisted Honda need more time to fix the problem with their new engine, though he took a slight dig at F1’s new regulations.
“Yeah, the starts are fun,” he said after the Chinese Grand Prix. “Same as in Australia, the car seems to start really well.
“On lap one, it’s true that we all have the same level of battery, which is full. Then we enter in this battery world championship, and in that we are not as good as the others
