Aston Martin Reveals Major Honda F1 Engine Breakthrough After Miami GP

The Aston Martin F1 team has revealed an update about the ongoing work on Honda’s power unit, suggesting considerable improvements.

F1’s recent Miami Grand Prix was Aston Martin’s first race where both its drivers, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, crossed the finish line.

The Silverstone-based team was plagued by vibration issues in the AMR26’s engine, which affected the driveability of the car, as drivers experienced numb fingers after clocking several laps.

Following the Japanese Grand Prix, one of the cars was left behind for Honda’s team to work on during the long break, which was a result of the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.

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Honda’s progress was on display, as both cars crossed the chequered flag in both the Miami GP sprint and main race. Alonso finished P15, while Stroll secured 17th place in the main race.

Alonso went on to confirm after qualifying that his AMR26 F1 car showed no reliability concerns. Motorsport.com reported his comments:

“The reliability and the vibrations are much better than what it has been so far. That’s the main positive of this weekend. Let’s say we can tick that box because the car behaves normal now. No issues to finish the race tomorrow. No reliability concerns.”

Aston Martin chief trackside officer Mike Krack admitted that Honda intends to continue working on solving the issues. He said:

“I think we are happy with it, and I think our partner wants to do more.”

Honda Racing Corporation trackside general manager Shintaro Orihara acknowledged the progress made and revealed the next point that needs addressing. He added:

“After the Japanese Grand Prix, I mentioned HRC and Aston Martin worked very hard to bring countermeasures here. We confirmed them working well, and also, drivers gave us positive comments. That’s good progress for Aston Martin and Honda.

“We have completed a full race distance and also a sprint race distance without any major reliability issue. That is good progress. Then, next focus point, we can focus to optimise our data setting for energy management and also drivability. There is still a lot of room to improve on our power unit. That’s the next step for us.”

Considering that the vibrations pass on to the car’s chassis, Orihara said that “countermeasures from both sides” were required to eliminate the problem.

Aston Martin is determined to iron out issues on the AMR26 before it can shift focus to enhancing performance, a point that Krack admitted. He said:

“We also must acknowledge that there is a big gap to close and this will not be the work of a week.”

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