The opening day of pre‑season testing in Bahrain immediately highlighted a striking contrast between the front and back of the field, with Red Bull showcasing exceptional straight‑line performance while Aston Martin struggled with significant power unit limitations.
Red Bull’s remarkable straight‑line strength
Red Bull delivered the most eye‑catching top‑speed figures of the session. Max Verstappen reached a peak of 344 km/h, which not only placed him comfortably at the top of the charts but also exceeded his best 2025 qualifying top speed by 24 km/h.
Achieving such a gain on the very first day of running under the new 2026 regulations suggests that Red Bull has already found an effective balance between aerodynamic efficiency and power unit output.
The team’s performance indicates that the Ford‑Red Bull Powertrains unit is producing strong peak power, and the car’s low‑drag characteristics are clearly working as intended.
Even though Verstappen’s overall lap time was more than four seconds slower than his 2025 qualifying benchmark—a normal gap for early testing—he was actually faster on the two main straights. This demonstrates that Red Bull has already established a competitive deployment strategy and is managing energy recovery effectively.
The data also shows minimal clipping, meaning the car maintained speed without suffering from early ERS power drop‑off. For a brand‑new power unit concept, this level of stability is impressive and suggests that Red Bull has arrived in 2026 with a package that is already well‑refined.
Aston Martin’s concerning Honda‑related limitations
In stark contrast, Aston Martin endured a difficult start to testing. Lance Stroll’s top speeds barely exceeded 300 km/h, placing him at the bottom of the rankings by a considerable margin. The deficit was not limited to a single lap but appeared consistently across his fifteen fastest runs.
The team reportedly faced problems with the Honda power unit during the session, and the speed traces reflect those issues clearly. Stroll gained almost nothing from DRS activation, and his peak speeds remained far below those of the midfield, let alone the front‑running teams.
A shortfall of more than 40 km/h compared with Red Bull is far too large to be attributed to conservative testing programs. Instead, it points to a fundamental limitation in power delivery or energy deployment that Honda will need to resolve quickly.
The scale of the gap is worrying for Aston Martin, especially given the importance of straight‑line efficiency under the 2026 regulations. If these issues persist, the team risks beginning the season with a significant performance disadvantage.