Lance Stroll delivers damning Aston Martin verdict

Lance Stroll issued Aston Martin a brutal comment during the opening three-day test in Bahrain when discussing whether its AMR26 had any positives.

Aston Martin has faced a shocking start to the new power unit regulations, completing the fewest laps across the Barcelona shakedown and the first test in Bahrain.

The Silverstone-based outfit has encountered issues in all departments, much to the frustration of team owner Lawrence Stroll.

For Lawrence’s son, testing has been incredibly unfortunate, with him completing just four laps in Barcelona and 105 at the Bahrain International Circuit.

When it comes to data gathered, Aston Martin is comfortably adrift of all its competitors, to the extent that Stroll pinned the team as being "four seconds" off the pace.

Finding positives is proving incredibly difficult for both Stroll and Fernando Alonso, although there is something the Canadian is a fan of.

Asked if there is anything positive about the AMR26, Stroll replied to select media, including RacingNews365: "Um, the livery looks nice."

For Adrian Newey’s team, time is against it to turn things around and unlock some solid performance before the opening race of the season.

As things stand, Stroll is unsure what can be unlocked, particularly due to the issues it is facing.

"Time will tell how much performance we can extract from it," added Stroll. "Right now, the issues we have — we’re trying to improve it every run, every day, and we’ll see how much more we can extract from the car."

Asked as to the source of the issues, Stroll responded: "It’s a combination of things — engine balance, grip — it’s not one thing; it’s a combination."