Fernando Alonso reacts to latest Aston Martin misery after Honda failure

Fernando Alonso has said there are "many things we need to fix" at Aston Martin after another disastrous day of F1 pre-season testing for the team.

The Silverstone-based squad has completed just 394 laps across the private shakedown in Barcelona, the opening three-day test at the Bahrain International Circuit and the majority of the final test, too.

That puts Aston Martin at the bottom of the lap count standings, and both Alonso and team-mate Lance Stroll have struggled for time on track.

The AMR26 appears to be at best the 10th-best car, ahead of only the fledgling Cadillac. Despite the aggressive aerodynamic concept of the team's first Adrian Newey-designed car, there are concerns about the philosophy.

In part, this is due to the potential cooling issues it creates for the new Honda power unit, in the first year of the two iconic brands' partnership.

The Japanese car giant's engine is down on power, but the tightly-packaged bodywork is believed to be compounding the collaboration's problems.

On the second day of the final test, Alonso managed just 68 laps until the AMR26 ground to a halt with three hours of the afternoon/evening session remaining.

Reflecting on another frustrating day, the two-time F1 drivers' champion said: "It was not the easiest day with a few disruptions.

"It was important to get some mileage in, but it wasn’t enough, and we couldn’t complete our run plan due to a PU-related issue that caused an early finish to the afternoon session."

The Spaniard was forthright in his appraisal of the situation, adding: "There are many things we need to fix, but I know everyone at the track and at the campus is working at 100% capacity to find solutions."

It was initially thought to be a transmission issue from Aston Martin's first in-house gearbox, having previously taken a supply from Mercedes as part of its customer deal, but Alonso set the record straight.

Honda has since published a statement taking responsibility and confirming that Lance Stroll's running on the final day will be heavily restricted as it battles to get on top of the setbacks.

Earlier in the pre-season, Stroll estimated that the AMR26 was four-to-four-and-a-half seconds slower than the leading car. The lack of running due to the numerous issues has also prevented the team from focusing on and refining set-up.