Some worrying comments were made after pre-season testing in Bahrain.

Aston Martin have endured a difficult start to pre-season testing in Bahrain
Aston Martin have endured a difficult start to pre-season testing in Bahrain (Image: Getty)
The start of the new F1 season is less than a month away and there is plenty to be excited about. The widespread regulation changes mean that all 11 teams will be stepping into the unknown when the campaign begins in Australia in early March. This week’s testing at the Bahrain International Circuit has offered an early insight into how each team is preparing for another year on the grid.

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Two drivers could be disqualified from F1 season opener due to little-known rule

Some worrying comments were made after pre-season testing in Bahrain.

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By Archie Griggs

Aston Martin have endured a difficult start to pre-season testing in Bahrain

Aston Martin have endured a difficult start to pre-season testing in Bahrain (Image: Getty)

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The start of the new F1 season is less than a month away and there is plenty to be excited about. The widespread regulation changes mean that all 11 teams will be stepping into the unknown when the campaign begins in Australia in early March. This week’s testing at the Bahrain International Circuit has offered an early insight into how each team is preparing for another year on the grid.

The likes of McLaren and Ferrari appear to have started strongly, with Lando Norris and Charles Leclerc setting some of the quickest lap times. Other teams have struggled, though, with Red Bull and Mercedes seeing their running hampered by car problems. Cadillac have also been plagued by early reliability issues that will need to be stamped out before the season begins.

Another team with plenty of work to do is Aston Martin, who are heading into 2026 with legendary designer Adrian Newey as their team principal.

They were four days late to the first collective shakedown in Barcelona before Lance Stroll completed just 36 laps on the initial day of testing in Bahrain.

Afterwards, the Canadian driver made a worrying comment as he suggested that Aston Martin were significantly slower than the front runners.

He said: “Right now, we look like we’re four seconds off the top team, four-and-a-half seconds. Impossible to know what fuel loads and everything people are running. But, yeah, now we need to try and find four seconds of performance.”

If those comments are true, it suggests that Aston Martin could fall foul of a little-known rule that may result in disqualification from the Australian Grand Prix.

In qualifying, any driver who is eliminated in the first session and fails to set a lap within 107 per cent of the fastest time in that session will not be allowed to start the race without special permission from the stewards.

Last year’s quickest Q1 lap in Australia was 1:15.912 and 107 per cent of that is 1:21.226, which is a difference of 5.134 seconds.

Lance Stroll believes Aston Martin are well off the pace of the top teams

Lance Stroll believes Aston Martin are well off the pace of the top teams (Image: Getty)

It suggests that if Aston Martin truly are four to five seconds off the pace, they could face a battle to avoid breaking the ‘107 per cent rule’ in Melbourne.

However, it should be noted that such a scenario is still pretty unlikely. Even the dreadful Williams in 2019 wasn’t close to falling short of the required time bracket and Aston Martin would have to make a real hash of it to be in danger themselves.

It’s almost certain that they will improve between now and the start of the Australian Grand Prix weekend and Stroll is convinced that they will eventually come good.

“Do we want to fight for race wins? Yes. Are we fighting for race wins today? It doesn’t look like it,” he added. “Does that mean we can fight for race wins in the future? No, I believe we can.

“So, I don’t have a crystal ball, I didn’t have a crystal ball before the season started, and we are where we are here today. It doesn’t look like it’s amazing. Can that change in the next few weeks? Can it get a lot better? For sure.

“Will it 100 per cent get way better? I don’t know. I don’t have the answers to those questions. All I can say is we’re pushing as hard as we can.

“We’re focused on bringing performance to the car, to the engine every single second of every single day and time will tell how competitive we look at the first race and throughout the whole season.”