Brundle: Aston Martin ‘horror show’ won’t improve until 2027

The start of the 2026 Formula 1 season has already taken on a bleak, foreboding tone for Aston Martin – and now one of the sport’s most experienced voices – Sky F1’s Martin Brundle – believes the darkness won’t lift anytime soon.

Three races into the sport’s new era, Team Silverstone has found itself anchored to the seabed of the Constructors' Championship, trapped in a relentless cycle of mechanical failure and staggering pace deficits.

For Brundle, there is no sugar-coating the wreckage. The dream of a Honda-powered revolution has, for now, curdled into a waking nightmare.

A different category of pain

Last month’s Japanese Grand Prix offered a grim milestone for the team: for the first time this year, an Aston Martin actually saw the checkered flag.

However, the sight of Fernando Alonso trundling home a full lap down in 18th place felt less like progress and more like a slow-motion funeral procession.

Meanwhile, Lance Stroll’s afternoon at Suzuka ended early with a water pressure failure, punctuating a weekend where the drivers were reduced to fighting their own teammates for the scraps of the back row.

"That's painful, isn't it, really? That's sort of salt in the wounds, almost," Brundle remarked on the Sky Sports F1 Show podcast, his tone heavy with the weight of the team's predicament.

"It's a nightmare, whichever way you look at it, they've got neither speed nor reliability. And in the days of relentless Formula 1 championship calendars and cost caps, it's going to be very difficult to turn that around in the time, and they've got to work out what to do first."

The numbers are haunting. At times, the AMR26 is leaking a country mile to the leaders – a gulf so vast it transcends mere struggle.

"Of course, they will improve it to an extent, but they're missing three, four seconds sometimes per lap," Brundle noted.

"I mean, that's like a different category they're in at the moment to the front runners. So, watch this space, but it'll be a while.”

No light until 2027

While fans and sponsors look toward the horizon for a glimmer of hope, the forecast remains bleak.

F1 commentator David Croft suggested that the structural rot within the car – ranging from a vibrating Honda power unit to a chassis that cannot accommodate it – requires a total overhaul that cannot be rushed.

"To get to the end of a race [in Japan] was amazing for them, to be fair, but that's a long-term project,” Croft warned.

“That is a long-term project to put right the issues that weren't picked up early enough. And I think people took their eye off the ball a little bit on all sides of that project.

“I'd said Silverstone for a B-spec car, that's more likely to be Spa for a B-spec car."

Crofty’s assessment of their current scoring potential was even more chilling.

"Can I see them scoring a point? Not unless 12 other cars retire at the moment. Getting to the finish was great for them but, as Mike Krack said, it's hardly a cause for celebration,” he said.

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For Brundle, the road to recovery isn't measured in weeks or months, but in years. The technical synergy required between Silverstone and Honda has suffered a catastrophic malfunction, and the fix may even require a generational shift in personnel and direction.

"They've got to get the right people in at Honda, get the right direction. It's not going to improve until 2027," the former F1 driver concluded, offering a final, gloomy verdict on the current state of the team.

"It's a horror show, and we're just going to have to observe that pain."

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