Steiner brands Aston Martin's 2026 campaign 'not F1 standards anymore' after Barcelona nightmare

Guenther Steiner has delivered one of the harshest public verdicts on any Formula 1 team this season, declaring that Aston Martin’s 2026 campaign is “not acceptable” and no longer meets the standards of the sport after the Silverstone outfit’s wretched weekend at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix.

Speaking on The Red Flags Podcast, the former Haas team principal was asked to name his biggest disappointment from the Barcelona race weekend. He did not hesitate. Fernando Alonso’s retirement — triggered when the Spaniard stopped on track and brought out a late virtual safety car — capped a miserable event for a team that had already been struggling badly for pace.

“I think it must be Aston Martin because Aston Martin makes even Cadillac look good, and Cadillac was down three laps at the end of a race,” Steiner said. “But it made Cadillac look good. What Aston Martin is doing now is just, in my opinion, not acceptable.”

He went further: “It’s not F1 standards anymore. It’s like having the local guy there. You’re dead last, but by a mile and then you don’t finish the race as well.”

Steiner also addressed whether Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has any power to intervene with an underperforming team. His answer was blunt: none. “Stefano can’t do anything about it. He has no authority to say when they should come in, when they shouldn’t come in, what they are doing, how they are performing. In F1, there is no relegation rule in the regulations because in most sports, if you’re not performing, guess what? You’re relegated.”

Despite the severity of his criticism, Steiner was careful to separate performance from intent when it comes to team owner Lawrence Stroll. “It’s not a lack of trying from Lawrence Stroll,” he said. “I think there are very few people who put this much money of their own into Formula 1 as Lawrence did. But obviously, he cannot get it right.”

Aston Martin has endured a torrid start to life under the sport’s new 2026 technical regulations. The team currently sits 10th and last in the constructors’ championship with a single point to its name, sitting only ahead of the new Cadillac entry.