Honda’s new engine for the 2026 Formula 1 season showed its first results after being tested for the first time on track during Aston Martin’s filming day on Wednesday (29) at the Hungaroring circuit in Hungary. The power unit is scheduled to debut at the Dutch GP in Zandvoort next month.
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The initial assessments are positive. According to Motorsport Italy, the new power unit can deliver about 30 additional horsepower, as well as having solved the vibrations that affected the team’s performance at the start of the season.
The update will be Honda’s first ADUO (Additional Development and Improvement Opportunity) in 2026 and comes after Aston Martin presented a major evolution in the chassis during the Hungarian GP. The team brought 16 new developments to the AMR26 specification B, allowing Fernando Alonso to reach Q2 and achieve his best qualifying position of the year, 16th place.
In the race, the British team also showed progress, with Lance Stroll and Alonso finishing 13th and 14th, respectively, ahead of the two Cadillac, Haas, and Williams cars, as well as an Alpine.
The expectation now is that the combination of the updated Honda engine and the aerodynamic improvement package will help the team recover from a difficult season. Aston Martin team principal and technical director Adrian Newey confirmed that the changes are part of a larger development plan:
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“The preliminary results are promising. It’s just part of the package, so we will have a few more steps in Zandvoort and then others in Monza/Baku. So, it’s the first part of our planned update,” he said.
According to Newey, the update mainly focuses on aerodynamics, since the chassis, car layout, and front suspension were kept. “It’s an evolution in the sense that the chassis is the same, the layout is the same, and the front suspension is the same. So, it’s much more of an aerodynamic evolution.”
The director also explained that the team needed to advance development after having little research time before the car launch in Barcelona in February. “It has really been a matter of taking a step back, trying to understand, and moving forward with this package.”
