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Honda has offered a first look at the updated power unit Aston Martin will run from the Dutch Grand Prix, adding a potentially important performance step to the team’s recent development push.
Aston Martin’s 2026 campaign began at the bottom of the pecking order. Its Honda power unit was affected by vibration problems and poor reliability, although those early difficulties were resolved in the opening rounds. That allowed the team to shift its focus towards upgrades planned for later in the season.
The team chose a different development path from many of its rivals, introducing a B-specification car at the Hungarian Grand Prix rather than bringing smaller updates to each race. The initial evidence was encouraging. Aston Martin moved ahead of Cadillac and Williams in qualifying, before Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished P13 and P14 respectively in the race.
That progress will now be tested in the Netherlands. Honda is preparing its second-specification power unit, with the clear objective of narrowing Aston Martin’s deficit to faster midfield competitors including Racing Bulls and Alpine. The latest developments are also covered in Honda’s wider recovery plans with Aston Martin.
Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s Trackside General Manager and Chief Engineer, said the manufacturer had focused on improving engine performance by making combustion faster.
“We changed the pre-chamber to make combustion faster, and also we changed the piston shape to get good combustion,” Orihara explained. “We modified some lubrication systems to reduce friction. We have a quite big list to improve engine performance.”
The revised power unit was first run on track during a filming day at the Hungaroring, where Honda assessed its operation alongside the 16 upgrades Aston Martin introduced at the same circuit. No public assessment of the day’s result has been made, but the mood around the team is understood to be optimistic.
Alonso has described the second half of the season as a possible “new start of the championship”, but the Dutch Grand Prix will provide the first meaningful indication of whether the combined package can deliver stronger results.
Asked how much additional horsepower the new engine would produce, Orihara declined to give a figure. However, he said Honda had achieved its internal target and expressed confidence in the work completed by the HRC Sakura factory team.
“We are excited to bring the new spec engine to the Netherlands and we will see where we are,” he said.
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.