2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[AR3-GP]

Without comparison, such thought means nothing.
But I am happy they are happy about their work

Btw, is there anyone here who believes or trusts anything Villeneuve says?

What does Villeneuve have to do with this?

He was in the video.

Right but he isn't the one that had the contact at AM.

[TyreSlip]

What does Villeneuve have to do with this?

He was in the video.

Right but he isn't the one that had the contact at AM.

Seriously. Villeneuve was only asked who would win the championship.

[zoroastar]

https://ibb.co/6JyzZH9k

aston trucks spotted outside of san sebastian on the way to barcelona. so they probably arent the team rumored to miss the first test. it was most likely just a rumor anyway

[zoroastar]

I hunted around and found it on a Facebook post that Sky News reported it.

If true, that is about 0.5 seconds lost due to the extra weight. Add the 0.3 loss from Honda missing the engine trick and that is already almost a one second deficit.

That’s assuming only Mercedes found a ‘trick’ but it’s the only rumor we’ve heard so far. For all we know, Honda or others could have something up their sleeve too. Speculating about lost lap time before we’ve even seen the car on track is just a waste of time.

From a known Honda employee that very rarely posts the occasional insight in the General Honda F1 thread. He stated he doesn't believe the compression ratio "trick" is even a loophole (Jan 3rd). Gives the impression this isn't anything new and has probably been explored well before the '26 powertrains. And this hitting the media is nothing new to any manufacturer, it's just media outlets making a buzz over nothing.

I don't know if I would even call it a loophole. Compression ratio is measured one way and what happens outside of that parameter is up to each PU supplier. There are many ways "to skin a cat" as the saying goes. I personally have no concerns about it and using metal compositions in the piston to maximize power should be each manufacturer's goal IMO.

im definitely not a honda employee and i trust what that guy says, but from what ive gathered, a 16.1 to 18.1 gain from deformation of materials would be extremely difficult. maybe merc has some other trick to achieve 15 more hp, but im not going to worry about it until we see it. maybe their gain is less. any 5hp gain is going to help battery regen thoough, so it wouldnt just be a net gain in hp, itll mean more battery deployment too. the good thing is that i think redbull has said that it isnt using this "trick" now, so you would think that it would help if it all comes down to a vote. maybe honda are loving all the attention is going at mercedes, because they have some even better tricks up their sleeves. we can hope

[sucof]

That’s assuming only Mercedes found a ‘trick’ but it’s the only rumor we’ve heard so far. For all we know, Honda or others could have something up their sleeve too. Speculating about lost lap time before we’ve even seen the car on track is just a waste of time.

From a known Honda employee that very rarely posts the occasional insight in the General Honda F1 thread. He stated he doesn't believe the compression ratio "trick" is even a loophole (Jan 3rd). Gives the impression this isn't anything new and has probably been explored well before the '26 powertrains. And this hitting the media is nothing new to any manufacturer, it's just media outlets making a buzz over nothing.

I don't know if I would even call it a loophole. Compression ratio is measured one way and what happens outside of that parameter is up to each PU supplier. There are many ways "to skin a cat" as the saying goes. I personally have no concerns about it and using metal compositions in the piston to maximize power should be each manufacturer's goal IMO.

im definitely not a honda employee and i trust what that guy says, but from what ive gathered, a 16.1 to 18.1 gain from deformation of materials would be extremely difficult. maybe merc has some other trick to achieve 15 more hp, but im not going to worry about it until we see it. maybe their gain is less. any 5hp gain is going to help battery regen thoough, so it wouldnt just be a net gain in hp, itll mean more battery deployment too. the good thing is that i think redbull has said that it isnt using this "trick" now, so you would think that it would help if it all comes down to a vote. maybe honda are loving all the attention is going at mercedes, because they have some even better tricks up their sleeves. we can hope

According to Wazari, who works for Honda, this is not considered a trick, he thinks everyone uses this. So the gains are small.
I wonder that the trick is not excatly what we think it is. Would be logical as why explain it well if it is something that gives you performance?

[AR3-GP]

I think Aston Martin is ahead of schedule compared to most.

[diffuser]

That’s assuming only Mercedes found a ‘trick’ but it’s the only rumor we’ve heard so far. For all we know, Honda or others could have something up their sleeve too. Speculating about lost lap time before we’ve even seen the car on track is just a waste of time.

From a known Honda employee that very rarely posts the occasional insight in the General Honda F1 thread. He stated he doesn't believe the compression ratio "trick" is even a loophole (Jan 3rd). Gives the impression this isn't anything new and has probably been explored well before the '26 powertrains. And this hitting the media is nothing new to any manufacturer, it's just media outlets making a buzz over nothing.

I don't know if I would even call it a loophole. Compression ratio is measured one way and what happens outside of that parameter is up to each PU supplier. There are many ways "to skin a cat" as the saying goes. I personally have no concerns about it and using metal compositions in the piston to maximize power should be each manufacturer's goal IMO.

im definitely not a honda employee and i trust what that guy says, but from what ive gathered, a 16.1 to 18.1 gain from deformation of materials would be extremely difficult. maybe merc has some other trick to achieve 15 more hp, but im not going to worry about it until we see it. maybe their gain is less. any 5hp gain is going to help battery regen thoough, so it wouldnt just be a net gain in hp, itll mean more battery deployment too. the good thing is that i think redbull has said that it isnt using this "trick" now, so you would think that it would help if it all comes down to a vote. maybe honda are loving all the attention is going at mercedes, because they have some even better tricks up their sleeves. we can hope

From what I've read, 16:1 at ambient would turn to 17.?:1 at 200C. From there to get to 18.3:1 isn't as much a stretch.

[GhostF1]

From a known Honda employee that very rarely posts the occasional insight in the General Honda F1 thread. He stated he doesn't believe the compression ratio "trick" is even a loophole (Jan 3rd). Gives the impression this isn't anything new and has probably been explored well before the '26 powertrains. And this hitting the media is nothing new to any manufacturer, it's just media outlets making a buzz over nothing.

im definitely not a honda employee and i trust what that guy says, but from what ive gathered, a 16.1 to 18.1 gain from deformation of materials would be extremely difficult. maybe merc has some other trick to achieve 15 more hp, but im not going to worry about it until we see it. maybe their gain is less. any 5hp gain is going to help battery regen thoough, so it wouldnt just be a net gain in hp, itll mean more battery deployment too. the good thing is that i think redbull has said that it isnt using this "trick" now, so you would think that it would help if it all comes down to a vote. maybe honda are loving all the attention is going at mercedes, because they have some even better tricks up their sleeves. we can hope

From what I've read, 16:1 at ambient would turn to 17.?:1 at 200C. From there to get to 18.3:1 isn't as much a stretch.

Agreed. And how much any of them manage to increase compression ratio beyond the 16:1 at ambient figure, no one really knows. I think the point is, it isn't surprising to Honda, it's not a "missed trick", they believe it's on the engineers to explore territory beyond the regs, and it is just the current topic of media obsession going into a totally unknown regulation change season.
I actually think Honda have been running beyond 18:1 from 2022 onwards. One of the articles on their official website mentioned the 18:1 ambient compression ratio limit was viewed as a lofty target in 2015 but by '21 onwards, it was viewed as an "easily attainable regulation limit". That plus E10 fuel introduction from '22 which would be technically favorable for increased compression, and Wazari's unphased stance on this "trick", makes you think this is a nothing story.
It's not a stretch to imagine most of the PU engineers in F1 are thinking "uhh this is old news".

[DJ Downforce]

I read that Alpine have apparently managed to get to the minimum weight limit. So I do think it is possible, but it makes you wonder if they've had to compromise other developmental areas to do this.

In my opinion, a team who arrives at the weight limit at the start could fight for podiums until the others catch up through weight saving of their own or just pure performance

[zoroastar]

From a known Honda employee that very rarely posts the occasional insight in the General Honda F1 thread. He stated he doesn't believe the compression ratio "trick" is even a loophole (Jan 3rd). Gives the impression this isn't anything new and has probably been explored well before the '26 powertrains. And this hitting the media is nothing new to any manufacturer, it's just media outlets making a buzz over nothing.

im definitely not a honda employee and i trust what that guy says, but from what ive gathered, a 16.1 to 18.1 gain from deformation of materials would be extremely difficult. maybe merc has some other trick to achieve 15 more hp, but im not going to worry about it until we see it. maybe their gain is less. any 5hp gain is going to help battery regen thoough, so it wouldnt just be a net gain in hp, itll mean more battery deployment too. the good thing is that i think redbull has said that it isnt using this "trick" now, so you would think that it would help if it all comes down to a vote. maybe honda are loving all the attention is going at mercedes, because they have some even better tricks up their sleeves. we can hope

From what I've read, 16:1 at ambient would turn to 17.?:1 at 200C. From there to get to 18.3:1 isn't as much a stretch.

if 17:1 comes from just running the car then this is all just a bunch of nonsense haha. my fear was that honda missed a really obvious "loophole" because they started late. if they achieve that much pressure so easily, then its pretty weiird for everyone that makes a living reporting on the sport are that clueless. you have to know that the heat generated inside a cylinder would have some kind of affect. pretty much any icu is designed with expansion in mind. now somebody at redbull is saying that all the rumors about mercedes being ahead in the new regs cae from mercedes themselves to draw engineers to the team again.

[Peter Ian Staker]

I read that Alpine have apparently managed to get to the minimum weight limit. So I do think it is possible, but it makes you wonder if they've had to compromise other developmental areas to do this.

In my opinion, a team who arrives at the weight limit at the start could fight for podiums until the others catch up through weight saving of their own or just pure performance

If its anything like what Sauber did in 2022, getting to the minimum weight this early may involve making a car with a shorter wheelbase and overall length than the rules allow which will compromise aero development later on.

[Badger]

From a known Honda employee that very rarely posts the occasional insight in the General Honda F1 thread. He stated he doesn't believe the compression ratio "trick" is even a loophole (Jan 3rd). Gives the impression this isn't anything new and has probably been explored well before the '26 powertrains. And this hitting the media is nothing new to any manufacturer, it's just media outlets making a buzz over nothing.

im definitely not a honda employee and i trust what that guy says, but from what ive gathered, a 16.1 to 18.1 gain from deformation of materials would be extremely difficult. maybe merc has some other trick to achieve 15 more hp, but im not going to worry about it until we see it. maybe their gain is less. any 5hp gain is going to help battery regen thoough, so it wouldnt just be a net gain in hp, itll mean more battery deployment too. the good thing is that i think redbull has said that it isnt using this "trick" now, so you would think that it would help if it all comes down to a vote. maybe honda are loving all the attention is going at mercedes, because they have some even better tricks up their sleeves. we can hope

From what I've read, 16:1 at ambient would turn to 17.?:1 at 200C. From there to get to 18.3:1 isn't as much a stretch.

The engine doesn't run at 200C, more like 120C.

[diffuser]

im definitely not a honda employee and i trust what that guy says, but from what ive gathered, a 16.1 to 18.1 gain from deformation of materials would be extremely difficult. maybe merc has some other trick to achieve 15 more hp, but im not going to worry about it until we see it. maybe their gain is less. any 5hp gain is going to help battery regen thoough, so it wouldnt just be a net gain in hp, itll mean more battery deployment too. the good thing is that i think redbull has said that it isnt using this "trick" now, so you would think that it would help if it all comes down to a vote. maybe honda are loving all the attention is going at mercedes, because they have some even better tricks up their sleeves. we can hope

From what I've read, 16:1 at ambient would turn to 17.?:1 at 200C. From there to get to 18.3:1 isn't as much a stretch.

The engine doesn't run at 200C, more like 120C.

Typical temperatures:
- Aluminum pistons: 200–350 °C (crown hotter)
- Cylinder heads (Al): 180–250 °C

Blocks: usually lower

[Rodak]

im definitely not a honda employee and i trust what that guy says, but from what ive gathered, a 16.1 to 18.1 gain from deformation of materials would be extremely difficult. maybe merc has some other trick to achieve 15 more hp, but im not going to worry about it until we see it. maybe their gain is less. any 5hp gain is going to help battery regen thoough, so it wouldnt just be a net gain in hp, itll mean more battery deployment too. the good thing is that i think redbull has said that it isnt using this "trick" now, so you would think that it would help if it all comes down to a vote. maybe honda are loving all the attention is going at mercedes, because they have some even better tricks up their sleeves. we can hope

From what I've read, 16:1 at ambient would turn to 17.?:1 at 200C. From there to get to 18.3:1 isn't as much a stretch.

The engine doesn't run at 200C, more like 120C.

You beat me to it. Maximum pressure of the cooling system is 3.75 bar; at that pressure water boils at 141°C. Sure, some parts will be hotter but there is also oil spray on pistons.

[diffuser]

From what I've read, 16:1 at ambient would turn to 17.?:1 at 200C. From there to get to 18.3:1 isn't as much a stretch.

The engine doesn't run at 200C, more like 120C.

You beat me to it. Maximum pressure of the cooling system is 3.75 bar; at that pressure water boils at 141°C. Sure, some parts will be hotter but there is also oil spray on pistons.

The CR isn't in the water jackets or the block. It's between the pistons and the cylinder head. Those parts are the temperatures I posted above, significantly hotter. That's where you'll get the largest change in size.