Former F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has delivered what might be the most scathing assessment yet of the struggling Aston Martin team.
The last three months have been utter misery for an outfit which had such high expectations going into 2026 after the signing of design genius Adrian Newey by billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll.
Things began to go badly awry on the eve of the season opener in Australia when team principal Newey admitted that the team’s new Honda power unit suffered vibrations so bad that drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll were in danger of permanent nerve damage. Just finishing races at that stage seemed impossible.
Since then the team has managed to claim a solitary championship point courtesy of Sergio Perez of Cadillac being penalised in Monaco, which elevated Alonso to P10 in the final classification.
Last weekend in Barcelona things were again grim for the team in green as Stroll and Alonso qualified in P21 and P22 respectively before both retired due to mechanical issues in Sunday’s race.
The criticism of the team from all quarters has been merciless, with pundits providing brutal takes on what feels like a daily basis.
Steiner says Aston Martin performance ‘not acceptable’
Former Haas team principal Steiner is just the latest to have his say, on the back of that dismal weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya.
Speaking on the Red Flags podcast, he said: “Aston Martin makes even Cadillac look good. And Cadillac was down three laps at the end of the race, but it made Cadillac look good.
“What Aston Martin is doing now is just in my opinion is not acceptable. It’s not F1 standards anymore. It’s like having the local guy there, you’re dead last, but by a mile. And then you don’t finish the race as well.”
‘I don’t think that Lawrence Stroll is proud of it’
The whole segment is a difficult listen, with the podcast host even suggesting to Steiner at one stage that the situation is so bleak, F1 chief Stefano Domenicali should intervene.
“Stefano cannot do anything about it,” answered Steiner.
“They are there, and they don’t perform. I don’t think that Lawrence Stroll is proud of it, what is happening there, but the buck stops with him – he owns the team.
“Stefano is not entitled to do anything. He has no authority to say if they should come in, when they shouldn’t come in, what they are doing, how they are performing. In F1 there is no relegation rule in the regulation. In most of the sports if you’re not performing, guess what, you’re relegated.”
Steiner was at pains to point out that Stroll Sr has spent a huge amount of money trying to make Aston Martin a genuine contender to win races. The failure to do that so far is absolutely not for the want of trying.
“It’s not that somebody is not doing it right to save money for a commercial aspect. It’s not a lack of trying from Lawrence Stroll. I think there is very few people that put this much money of his own into Formula 1 that Lawrence did. But obviously he cannot get it right.”
Better times are ahead for Aston Martin
While things are very very tough right now for Aston Martin, much better times are very likely ahead – and soon.
Newey and his team have purposely held off on upgrades to the 2026 car so far, with a view to bringing a significant raft of improvements for the second half of the season.
Speaking in Barcelona last weekend, chief trackside officer Mike Krack re-iterated: “We have a strong leader [Newey], and that decision was made for the upgrades.
“We are committed to his decisions, even if they are difficult. Our job is to stay motivated, learn as much as possible, and know that there is a lot of room for improvement. The easy thing would be to do nothing, but many problems will still be there, and every opportunity will give us a chance to at least improve.”
