Martin Brundle has revealed Lawrence Stroll is ‘at his wit’s end’ after Aston Martin suffered yet another DNF in 2026 at the Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Lance Stroll was forced to park up his AMR26 mid-way through the race at Interlagos on Sunday after a suspected battery issue.
The Candian racing driver suffered his 13th DNF in the 20 races run so far this season.
With three rounds still to take place, another DNF, which looks more likely than not given the Silverstone-based team’s form, will mean the 28-year-old will equal F1’s long-standing all-time record of 14 retirements in a season, currently held by Andrea de Cesaris in 1986 and 1987 for Minardi and Brabham, respectively.
Brundle revealed that he had spoken to team owner Lawrence Stroll before the race and he was ‘at his wit’s end’ with Aston Martin’s reliability struggles.
“We were talking to Lawrence Stroll, the boss, about it. He’s at his wit’s end, he doesn’t know what to do about these endless reliability issues and non-finishes in the team,” he said on Sky Sports F1’s Sao Paulo GP broadcast coverage.
“What are they going to do for next year? Have they got different ideas, different people to sort the problem out? Where the battery pack, the ERS, the energy recovery system and just the power deficit they’ve got.
“That’s the problem Aston Martin have at the moment: Where do they go from here?”
Honda makes grim Aston Martin confession after F1 Sao Paulo GP DNF
It has been a difficult start to F1’s latest era for Honda. Aston Martin had signed up for a works deal with Red Bull’s former engine supplier, but reality has bit them both hard.
The 2026 Honda PU has been vastly uncompetitive compared to its rivals, and on top of that, reliability has been a key concern.
After the race at Interlagos, Honda trackside general manager Shintaro Orihara, conceded that they were clueless as to the root cause of Stroll’s DNF.
“We had another battery issue today on Lance’s car. We know what happened, but we don’t know what is the root cause,” he said.
“We will check the data and also we will check the battery, and it may take a few weeks to find the root cause.
“But from the data we need to find some countermeasure for next year and also we need find the actual root cause of this error for next year, otherwise we keep having the same issue, so this is quite important for us to understand what is the root cause.”
Heading into the Las Vegas GP, Aston Martin sits 10th in the Constructors’ standings, only ahead of Cadillac who have had an equally torrid 2026 with no F1 championship points still to their name.
READ MORE – Aston Martin drivers deliver ‘not good’ verdict on Honda power unit
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