Lance Stroll says Aston Martin “appears to be four seconds behind the top teams”.

Stroll said it was “just a difference in control and performance”, and asked how the team would improve, he said: “I don’t think it falls from the sky. I think you have to improve and find performance in the car and the engine.”

Newey described Aston Martin’s design at the team’s launch earlier this week as “one of the most extreme interpretations” of this year’s new rules, and it has impressed rivals.

But so far the car has shown no signs of performance, and the same can be said for the new engine designed by Honda, which this year moved to Aston Martin from Red Bull.

The 27-year-old admitted that a “large part” of the car’s problems came from the engine. When asked if there was anything positive he could say about the car, he said: “The paint looks nice.”

On Newey’s role as team principal, a position he took up in November in addition to being technical partner, Stroll said: “He’s all about performance. He’s just obsessed with how to get more performance out of the car and he’s a great leader overall.”

Newey only joined Aston Martin in March last year, and the team has been keen to play down expectations for his first season as a works team.

“We are where we are,” Stroll said. “Do we want to fight to win the race? Yes. Are we fighting to win the race today? It doesn’t look like it. Does that mean we can’t fight to win the race in the future? No, I think we can.”

“I don’t have a crystal ball. It doesn’t sound amazing.”