Aston Martin’s new power unit partner, Honda, have released a statement following the disruptions to the team’s programme on the second day of the final pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Fernando Alonso was behind the wheel of the AMR26 during Thursday afternoon’s session in the Sakhir desert when he encountered problems under braking for Turn 4 and came to a halt shortly afterwards.

That ended Aston Martin’s running for the day and marked another setback in their preparations for the 2026 campaign, after a late debut for the car at the Barcelona Shakedown and struggles throughout the two Bahrain gatherings.

Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack admitted last week that “we know we are missing pace and we have areas we know we need to improve”, while driver Lance Stroll claimed Aston Martin are as much as “four-and-a-half seconds” behind the front-runners.

Responding to the latest incident, a Honda statement read: “Our last run with Fernando Alonso yesterday showed a battery-related issue that impacted our test plan with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team.