Fernando Alonso believes Aston Martin's new Honda engine needs more time to develop as they have fallen behind in Formula One's "battery world championship".

Aston Martin have struggled to adjust to the 2026 season's new regulations, with Alonso retiring from both the Australian Grand Prix and Chinese Grand Prix.

Despite their engine problems, which have led to issues with the car's batteries, Alonso has made positive starts to both races this year.

He climbed from 17th to tenth on the first lap in Melbourne before going from 18th to tenth in Shanghai, before the battery problems caught up to them.

Alonso insisted Honda need more time to fix the problem with their new engine, though he took a slight dig at F1's new regulations.

"Yeah, the starts are fun," he said after the Chinese Grand Prix. "Same as in Australia, the car seems to start really well.

"On lap one, it's true that we all have the same level of battery, which is full. Then we enter in this battery world championship, and in that we are not as good as the others.

A difficult day in Shanghai with Lance retiring due to a suspected battery issue and Fernando retiring due to discomfort from vibrations.

As a team, we’ll continue working with our partners at Honda to understand the car better and improve in all areas.#ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/WH95BraQ0v

— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 15, 2026

"Obviously, from Australia to China, we only had five days, so the engine was exactly the same as in Australia.

"Now we have two weeks, so we need more time [testing the engine] in the dyno.

"We need to give Honda more time to understand the vibrations and where they come from. And probably we fix the battery isolation, even though I think Lance [Stroll] had a problem also, so I don't know exactly what was the problem.

"But yeah, all in all, we need to give Honda more time."

The third race of the season takes place in Japan on March 29, with Mercedes and Ferrari currently leading the way in the championship.