Less than twenty four hours before the all new 2026 Formula One cars take to the track in Melbourne, one team is dreading their Australian outing. Paddock rumours have spread like wildfire suggesting the Honda/Aston partnership is beyond crisis and that the drivers will complete the formation lap on Sunday only to retire the cars.

For fans of the iconic British racing marque, 2026 was to represent a new dawn for the team who in their history have won multiple championships in a variety of motorsport categories, but for the Silverstone based F1 team hopes of any kind of success this year appear forlorn.

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Expectations for Aston Martin ‘sky high’

As the team packed their all newAdrian Newey designed car into freight cargo at Birmingham airport for the flight to Girona on January 28th, the flight was the second most tracked in the world that day – such was the expectation. And having broken cover, the design was deemed a ‘marvel’ by many F1 engineers and analysts with its stunning aesthetics featuring aggressive, “sculptured” bodywork and a new concept in rear end suspension.

This season Aston Martin have reached the lofty heights of a ‘works team’ status with an exclusive relationship with Honda as their engine supplier. The historic Japanese manufacturer of winning F1 engines had bagged five championships along with Red Bull since 2021 and expectations were high they could once again rule the roost at the pinnacle of motorsport.

With Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll rebranding the bankrupt Racing Point F1 outfit in 2021 to Aston Martin, his investment in the team has been huge. Over $200m has been spent on state of the art facilities just outside the gates of Silverstone and his headhunting list for the best in the business reads like a who’s who inside the paddock.

Yet concerns emerged back in January, when Aston Martin declared they would be late to the Barcelona shakedown due to ‘production delays.’ The team subsequently recorded the least mileage of all those present at the Circuit de Catalunya. Indeed across all the pre-season testing Aston Martin were the team to deliver the most poultry number of laps with just 389.

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Honda DeJa Vu

For F1 fans who remember the last big powertrain regulation change in 2014, Honda are having more than a moment of deja vu. Having joined a year late in 2015 they were playing catch up and at the Jerez test in February this writer heard the Japanese designed engine literally eating itself each time it ventured onto the circuit.

Once again Honda have missed the boat with their new F1 engine design, unable to test it a full chat in Bahrain due to concerns of a meltdown. Such was the attrition due to engine vibrations on the final day of the second Bahrain test Honda managed just six laps due to a lack of replacement powertrain components.

Honda admitted after the test in the middle east, it’s engine was suffering from extreme vibrations which was damaging the battery pack and systems. Yet they remarkable have failed to identify the root cause of the issue, and admit it could be the battery pack itself.

With just eight days back air base in Sakura before the F1 engines must be homologated with the FIA (designed finalised and fixed), Honda set about resolving the issues running on their virtual test track. Little information has emerged from the Aston Martin team or Honda since the tests, although at the media day in Melbourne Team principal Adrian Newey was candid.

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Alonso says he can do just 25 laps

Honda have managed to significantly reduce the vibrations the battery is experiencing but not entirely and as the source of the issue the power unit is the “amplifier” and the chassis is the “receiver”. 

“That vibration into the chassis is causing a few reliability problems, mirrors falling off, tail lights falling off, all that sort of thing, which we are having to address,” said Newey. If it was not for Adrian’s regular communication style of stoic optimism, this report might sound like a line from a stand up comedian.

Fernando Alonso is reported as stating in its current form, he can manage around 25 laps of the Melbourne circuit; his team mate Lance Stroll believes the number for him even less. So how did Aston Martin and Honda get it so wrong is the million dollar question?

With the all new F1 power tin regulations stuck for years at a committee staged in October 2020 Honda announced they would be leaving F1 at the end of 2021. The reasoning was to focus on carbon neutrality in their road car production by 2050 and a desire to focus on future energy technologies.

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Honda’s delayed start smoke and mirros

Red Bull once again were dismayed, having been let down badly boy Renault at the start of the V6 turbo hybrid era. The decision was made for the Milton Keynes based team to become an F1 power unit manufacturer and an agreement was reached which would see Honda support the Red Bull teams until the final year of the current engine regulations at the end of 2025.

Honda’s F1 programme over the years has been F1’s yoyo manufacturer, at the whim of the transient decisions from the corporate executives back in Japan. Yet in 2022, the Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) which operates with a degree of independence from the road cars division, adopted the F1 programme alongside its global motorcycle racing activities.

The decision was quickly made to become one of the F1 2026 powertrain manufacturers and Honda immediately offered to continue the relationship with Red Bull Racing. Yet the then RBR team principal Christian Horner, having been burned more than once by engine suppliers refused to countenance this and pressed on with their own journey towards becoming masters of their own destiny.

Many F1 writers now suggest that it was this indecision and time lag which has set Honda on the back foot when compared to its rivals. Yet this excuse simply doesn’t stack up. Yes Honda started a year later than Audi who were the next last to begin R&D for their F1 programme, but given the new F1 powertrains were a progression from their predecessors, Honda’s experience and huge amounts of data collected meant the p[laying field was level with the German brand’s first venture into the sport.

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Newey’s trademark ‘tight packaging’

As Lawrence Stroll was assembling his multi billion dollar dream team at Aston Martin, civil war was to break out at Red Bull Racing and Adrian Newey opted to leave. He was snatched up with the tantalising offer of equity in the Aston Martin F1 team and a free reign over all matters technical. But there was the small ,matter of gardening leave which meant Newey was only a free agent from his  Austrian overlords in May of 2025.

Of course by now, the powertrain manufacturers were all advanced with the all new F1 power units and the team’s car designers had the parameters of how the new engine layouts would look. Newey famously known for his tight packaging of an F1 chassis got to work on the AMR26, but with implications to come for Honda.

The guru F1 car designer’s cars all have the hallmark of an aerodynamic design philosophy which seeks to maximise downforce but importantly reduce drag where ever possible. Thos often pushes the boundaries of mechanical designs in the suspension and results in extremely slim bodywork with aggressive sweeping G-lines.

At its launch, the AMR26 was much admired, featuring “extreme side pods” which fit Newey’s cars design philosophy. At the rear of the car the sling lines come together in a tightly designed ‘coke bottle’ area allowing the air to flow perfectly into the diffuser.

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Honda for now taking the blame

This approach does yield improvements in performance, but creates significant challenges for the designers of the internals – involving the power train. The AMR26 is also believed to have an extremely stiff chassis design, something Newey has taken fro his recent Red Bull title winning cars.

Newey’s explanation of the Honda engine being the amplifier of the vibrations and the chassis being the receiver is ever so slightly wide of the mark. Yes, the powertrain is the source of the vibrations but the stiffness of the chassis is what is amplifying the oscillations.

For now, Newey and Honda appear to be happy to place the responsibility on the powertrain manufacturer to resolve the matter. “To me I think there’s no point in not being open and honest on our expectations. We are going to have to be very heavily restricted on how many laps we do in the race until we get on top of the source of the vibration and improve the vibration at source,” said the Aston Martin team boss.

Yet TJ13 sources in Silverstone are suggesting, that Honda have requested Newey consider a softening of the suspension ride of the AMR26, which for now will contribute to a reduction in the vibrations while the source of the problem is resolved.

 

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Is Newey the best choice for team boss?

Known for his strong beliefs in his car designs – some may stubbornness – Newey believes Aston Martin are the best placed team behind the top four, Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull and McLaren. “I look at our package and I don’t feel as if we’ve particularly missed anything so therefore I believe that the car has huge, tremendous development potential in it. It will take a few races to fully realise that potential. We’ve got quite an aggressive development plan underway.

“Here in Melbourne, we are a bit behind the leaders [and] maybe the fifth best team, so sort of potential Q3 qualifiers on the chassis side. Obviously it is not where we want to be but we have the potential to be up front at some point in the season,” Newey concludes.

Yet this would require an almost miracle to achieve given Aston Martin’s best time in testing was two and a half seconds slower than Alpine, Racing Bulls and Audi who headed up the midfield in Bahrain. 

Whether the appointment of Newey as Aston Martin team boss was a smart decision or not, only time will tell. But a man who is technically obsessed and at times fails to see the bigger picture may not be so ready to do what’s required if it means compromising his precious F1 car design.

 

 

 

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