Aston Martin’s 2026 Formula 1 season has been marked by difficulties, with the team in last position in the Constructors’ Championship and still without points after three races. The main problem comes from the power unit supplied by Honda, which has been showing serious failures since the beginning of the year.
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These failures are linked to vibrations much higher than expected, more intense on track than in dynamometer tests. The impact has caused frequent battery failures and raised concerns even about possible physical effects on Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, with reports of risk of “permanent nerve damage” in their hands.
The situation is aggravated by the assembly’s own architecture, as the battery cannot withstand the vibrations generated by the rigid connection between the engine, gearbox, and MGU-K, leading in some cases to irreversible damage. In the Australian Grand Prix, for example, two of the four batteries brought by Honda failed within the first hour of practice.
Amidst the crisis, Honda states that its engineers continue to work intensely, but admits that no immediate solution is expected before the Miami Grand Prix. Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s general track manager and chief engineer, explained the joint effort between the teams in a video on social media:
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“As you know, the Bahrain Grand Prix and the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix have been postponed,” said Orihara. “But that doesn’t mean the work has stopped.”
He highlighted the ongoing collaboration in Japan: “After the Japanese Grand Prix, members of Aston Martin and Honda Racing Corporation have been working together at the HRC Research and Development Center in Sakura, about three hours from Tokyo.”
Orihara reinforced that the work continues without interruptions: “We are working non-stop to improve our countermeasures, and the work will continue as we approach the next F1 race in Miami. We know things will take time, but we will continue to work hard together,” he stated.
