Aston Martin crisis deepens as ex driver predicts prolonged 'horror show'

The former driver-turned-F1 pundit highlighted the severity of the Silverstone-based outfit’s situation, stressing that both time and regulations could severely limit their ability to recover quickly.

Describing the state of affairs as a “nightmare” via the Sky F1 Show, Brundle pointed to Aston Martin’s lack of both pace and reliability, while noting how the relentless F1 calendar and cost cap era make it far harder for teams to recover from such a deep slump.

“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 time, and they’ve got to work out what to do first,” he said.

Doubling down on his verdict, the 66-year-old further labelled the situation a “horror show”, suggesting it could take until the 2027 season before Aston Martin see any meaningful turnaround.

“Of course, they will improve it to an extent, but they’re missing three, four seconds sometimes per lap. I mean, that’s like a different category they’re in at the moment compared to the front-runners. So, watch this space, but it’ll be a while,” Brundle concluded.

The Aston Martin outfit have endured a challenging start to the 2026 campaign. The Silverstone-based team have only been able to complete one of the three Grands Prix of the season so far, a feat which Honda president Koji Watanabe labelled a milestone.

Stay up to date with the latest Formula 1 news? Follow GPblog.com on WhatsApp Channels and receive the most important updates first.

Earlier, Aston Martin’s chief trackside officer Mike Krack acknowledged that the team are also dealing with issues relating to its chassis.

The 54-year-old, who admitted that the team are still working to fix their engine vibration problems, noted that they remain further hampered by ongoing chassis-related concerns.'

Want to stay up to date with the latest events from the F1 paddock? GPblog’s Paddock Update is the place to be.

Follow and subscribe to our channels on Spotify and YouTube so you don’t miss a scoop as the actions and reactions continue across the Formula 1 scene.

Check out the latest episode of our Paddock Update here 👇