Honda reveals why Aston Martin’s 2026 F1 start fell so far short
Honda’s difficult start to the new era
Aston Martin entered Formula 1’s major technical overhaul with expectations that its new Silverstone facility, Adrian Newey’s arrival and works partnership with Honda would create the foundations for a serious step forward. Instead, the opening phase has exposed the scale of the challenge facing both team and power-unit supplier.
Team principal Mike Krack recently acknowledged that Aston Martin had barely been racing before the summer break, with the gap to newcomer Cadillac reportedly reaching around one second. The AMR26’s first major upgrade package, introduced in Hungary, changed that picture to some extent, but the chassis is only one part of the equation.
Honda has also faced problems since officially returning to Formula 1. Vibrations affected the drivers during the opening weeks, while outright performance remained well below the required level. According to trackside manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara, the seriousness of the situation became clear in January.
“In January, we realised that in some of the areas we found some, not issues, but we realised that performance was always up, down, up, down,” Orihara told Motorsport.com. “So we found some performance, but then we also found some reliability issues.”
Reliability came before performance
Honda was forced to abandon or reduce several performance gains to protect reliability at that level. That decision slowed development further, while battery-related problems also complicated the programme and cost valuable mileage during winter testing.
“When we started running in Barcelona, we realised that our performance was definitely poor compared to the other manufacturers. And also, we found some issues on the battery side,” Orihara said.
He admitted Honda had recognised late last year that it was not competitive, but had not expected the deficit to be so large. The difficulty, he explained, was not one isolated component but the combined effect of extensive changes across the power unit.
The MGU-K’s power increased from 120 to 350 kilowatts, fuel-flow parameters changed on the internal-combustion-engine side and the removal of the MGU-H created a major drivability challenge. Honda has therefore had to manage performance, reliability and boost-pressure control simultaneously.
Zandvoort upgrade offers first answer
Honda’s long-awaited Zandvoort upgrade is focused on the internal-combustion engine and is intended to reduce the remaining power deficit. It has already been tested during a filming day at the Hungaroring.
The package is only an initial step, but its performance will be closely watched as Aston Martin continues a difficult recovery. The team’s wider project remains tied to the foundations highlighted in this latest Aston Martin development, yet Honda’s account makes clear that progress will require time rather than a single breakthrough.
Simone Scanu
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.