Aston Martin 'emotional' over F1 2026 debut after Barcelona delay

Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack has labelled the team's on-track debut as “emotional”.

The Silverstone-based squad was delayed in getting its car to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for the pre-season shakedown event.

In the closing stages of Thursday's test, the car emerged from the garage with Lance Stroll behind the wheel.

There is much anticipation surrounding Aston Martin's car this year as it is the team's first challenger built by Adrian Newey - regarded as one of the sport's greatest designers.

The car's features turned heads when it rolled out of the garage, as Krack highlighted the importance of the moment for the team.

“Each time when you have a new car, it's always emotional,” he said.

“It's a very, very, very exciting moment. A lot of hard work went into it over the last days.

“There's still a lot of work to come, but I think we can take a breath and be happy that we rolled out the car. 

“It was really emotional and a nice moment for the team and a tribute to the hard work that everybody put in. 

The AMR26 managed just four laps before it stuttered to a halt on the track, equipped with the new Honda power unit.

Aston Martin now has one final day of running to get through in Barcelona before it heads to Bahrain for the second test.

“F1 is relentless,” Krack added. 

“You always have to look forward, and there will be much more hard work to come, but we're looking forward to that.”