عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
Sports

Aston Martin Feel ‘Powerless’ as Battery Problem Risks Australian Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 6, 2026 Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey during a press conference. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 6, 2026 Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey during a press conference. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Aston Martin Feel ‘Powerless’ as Battery Problem Risks Australian Grand Prix

Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 6, 2026 Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey during a press conference. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 6, 2026 Aston Martin team principal Adrian Newey during a press conference. (Reuters)

Aston Martin's hopes of racing ‌in the season-opening Australian Grand Prix rest on their final batteries holding up until Sunday's race, leaving them feeling "powerless" and in a "scary place to be", team principal Adrian Newey said on Friday.

The Formula One team have been plagued by problems with their Honda power unit, with drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll having their laps restricted due to the risk of sustaining permanent nerve damage from vibrations in the car.

Twice world champion Alonso was unable to leave the garage in the first free practice on Friday, while Stroll managed only three laps ‌due to problems ‌with the power unit.

Newey said the team brought ‌four ⁠batteries to Melbourne ⁠but two had already failed, leaving only the ones left in the drivers' cars.

"So we lose one of those, then it's obviously a big problem," Newey told reporters.

"So we've got to be very careful on how we use the batteries."

"Given our kind of rate of battery damage, it's quite a scary place to be in."

Aston Martin also ⁠suffered a battery problem on the final day of ‌pre-season testing in Bahrain last month, ‌which compounded the team's critical shortage of laps and data before the ‌season-opener in Melbourne.

Powered by Mercedes last season, Aston Martin finished seventh ‌in the championship.

Honda withdrew from F1 in 2021 after providing a competitive power unit for Red Bull that helped Max Verstappen win the title but confirmed in 2023 they would return with Aston Martin in 2026.

The new ‌partnership raised concerns from the get-go.

Newey pinned the power unit problems on a lack of experience, saying ⁠only about ⁠30% of Honda's original team remained in place for the Aston Martin project.

He added that his team only became aware of the personnel problems in November.

Newey said the reliability issues were affecting his whole team, noting that Aston Martin's mechanics had been up until four in the morning on Friday working on solutions.

"I think it's one where I kind of feel a bit powerless, because clearly we've got a very significant PU (power unit) problem, and our lack of running then also means, at the same time, we're not finding out about the car," he added.

"It just becomes a self-feeding problem.

"And of course, it's using a lot of energy in the human sense."

Most Viewed

 
 
Sports

Verstappen Baffled by Crash in Australian Grand Prix Qualifying

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands spins off the track during the qualifying session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands spins off the track during the qualifying session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP)
TT
TT

Verstappen Baffled by Crash in Australian Grand Prix Qualifying

Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands spins off the track during the qualifying session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP)
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen of the Netherlands spins off the track during the qualifying session for the Australian Formula One Grand Prix at Albert Park, in Melbourne, Australia, Saturday, March 7, 2026. (AP)

Four-time world champion Max Verstappen said Saturday he had never experienced anything like the crash that left him 20th on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix.

The Dutchman came out relatively late in the first qualifying session in Melbourne but didn't manage a single timed lap, spinning at speed and careening through the gravel into the barriers at Turn 1.

He clambered out of his Red Bull shaking his hand and wrist, but said he was okay after being checked by medics.

"I just hit the brakes and suddenly the rear axle just completely locked out of the blue," he told reporters on the eve of the season-opening race.

"I don't know why that happened or how that happened. I've never experienced something like that before in my career.

"The rear axle just completely locked on, then of course you can't save that anymore at that speed."

Verstappen said hitting the barrier was not too bad, but the steering wheel snapped out of his hands, which is why he went to get a medical check.

"But all good," he added.

Verstappen, the 2023 and 2024 pole-sitter, has his work cut out on Sunday with a near-impossible task ahead to salvage his weekend.

George Russell led a Mercedes 1-2 with teammate Kimi Antonelli, with the Briton almost a second faster than third-placed Isack Hadjar in the other Red Bull.

"I said in Bahrain (at pre-season testing) 'Let's wait and see in Melbourne, and you will see how fast they are'," Verstappen said of the Silver Arrows.

"So for me, that's not a surprise. We know that we have to improve the car to fight Mercedes."

Sports

Ahead of F1’s 1st Race, Red Bull Welcomes 21-Year-Old Hadjar to the Hot Seat with Verstappen

Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 5, 2026 Red Bull's Isack Hadjar during the photoshoot ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 5, 2026 Red Bull's Isack Hadjar during the photoshoot ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Ahead of F1’s 1st Race, Red Bull Welcomes 21-Year-Old Hadjar to the Hot Seat with Verstappen

Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 5, 2026 Red Bull's Isack Hadjar during the photoshoot ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. (Reuters)
Formula One F1 - Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park Grand Prix Circuit, Melbourne, Australia - March 5, 2026 Red Bull's Isack Hadjar during the photoshoot ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. (Reuters)

Isack Hadjar has no lack of confidence going into his debut season at Red Bull Racing, despite having arguably the most difficult ride in Formula 1.

On the eve of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, the 21-year-old French driver said he expects to win a race in his first season with the team while squaring up against teammate and four-time world champion Max Verstappen.

It seems incongruous for him to say it, given Hadjar is only going into his second season of F1 and Red Bull doesn’t appear to have a major pace advantage heading into Sunday's race at Albert Park in Melbourne.

To add to Hadjar's challenge is that Verstappen has gone through four teammates in about 15 months.

One of them, Sergio Pérez, said in January that being Verstappen's teammate was "the worst job there is in Formula 1." Pérez was beside Verstappen for four years at Red Bull before being dropped at the end of 2024 with two years left in his contract. Pérez is returning to F1 this year with new team Cadillac.

Still, Hadjar is putting the off-track talk aside, saying the team is set to surprise everyone with the pace of the RB22 car.

"I would say I’m confident in our race car, what we can do in the race, a bit less probably on one lap pace," Hadjar told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview. "But if we’re going to surprise people it’s definitely in a good way."

Hadjar said he was stunned by the competitiveness of Red Bull’s new power unit, an endlessly complex technical project.

"I was very happily surprised with the reliability and drivability of the engine," Hadjar said. "I know that I can’t make engines, but I know what it requires to make something smooth to drive. And to do it in 3 1-2 years, start the project so late and (then) make it so well is so impressive."

Also impressive is Hadjar himself, who came back from an embarrassing formation lap crash on debut during last year’s Australian GP to score points at 10 of 24 races, including a third place at the Dutch Grand Prix, the fifth-youngest podium finisher in F1 history.

Hadjar will also benefit from having the same team boss, Laurent Mekies, who also made the step from Racing Bulls to replace Christian Horner at Red Bull last year in the aftermath of Horner's exit in the days following the British Grand Prix last July.

"Yeah, it’s good, not much change for me," Hadjar said. "I know him (Mekies) quite well, made my debut in F1 with him, we had some very good moments. So, it’s good not to step into unknown territory, so it’s good to keep going on the way I started F1."

One change Hadjar has made is important — a geographical one. He moved from Faenza, Italy where he was close to Racing Bulls to London to be closer to Red Bull Racing’s Milton Keyes operation. He’ll need all the help he can get to take on Verstappen in the same team.

As always, Hadjar is confident and looking forward to the challenge.

"I’m just happy, at my age, to be able to see what it’s like to be next to the best driver on the grid," Hadjar said, "with the same material and see what I can do, and just learn from him.

"Yeah, I’m just happy. And lucky."

Sports

Sabalenka Debuts Engagement Ring During Indian Wells Win

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus shows off her engagement ring during an interview with Joanna Sakowicz Kostecka after a match against Himeno Sakatsume of Japan during Day 3 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 06, 2026 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus shows off her engagement ring during an interview with Joanna Sakowicz Kostecka after a match against Himeno Sakatsume of Japan during Day 3 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 06, 2026 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
TT
TT

Sabalenka Debuts Engagement Ring During Indian Wells Win

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus shows off her engagement ring during an interview with Joanna Sakowicz Kostecka after a match against Himeno Sakatsume of Japan during Day 3 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 06, 2026 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)
Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus shows off her engagement ring during an interview with Joanna Sakowicz Kostecka after a match against Himeno Sakatsume of Japan during Day 3 of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells Tennis Garden on March 06, 2026 in Indian Wells, California. (Getty Images/AFP)

Aryna Sabalenka's performance in a 6-4 6-2 second-round win over Japan's Himeno Sakatsume was not the only thing that dazzled at Indian Wells on Friday, with the world number one also showing off her shiny new engagement ring.

The 27-year-old sported the striking oval-cut diamond ring for the first time in competition after getting engaged to Georgios Frangulis late on Tuesday.

"It feels super comfortable and shiny," ‌she told ‌reporters.

"We double-checked if there was a ‌possibility ⁠to lose the ⁠diamond, and there was none. I was pretty confident wearing it, hoping it might even distract my opponent."

Sabalenka, who has made the final of the WTA 1000 event twice in the last three years, said that while the proposal came as ⁠a complete surprise to her, the ‌entire team was in ‌on the engagement secret.

"I saw Georgios and I was crying ‌half of the time, because I thought ‌that I looked ugly, not prepared, and this is such a beautiful moment," she said.

"I stopped everything, and I asked the videographer and the photographer to make sure ‌that my face was not (in the pictures), just the ring, and side ⁠views and ⁠from the back, just so you guys wouldn't be shocked by the way I looked.

"But it was a beautiful moment."

Sabalenka was asked what she has learned about Frangulis, the CEO of global health-food brand OakBerry, and what he has learned about her since they began dating in 2024.

"What I have learned about him? He likes Oakberry a lot," the four-times Grand Slam champion said. "What he has learned about me? That I'm crazy," she added with a laugh.