zoroastar wrote: ↑03 Mar 2026, 08:22
if they installed a mercedes engine in the back of it they wouldve probably run hundreds of more laps at full power by now.
all the honda fans are trying to micro analyze this situation into a newey problem, an aston martin problem or a gearbox problem. honda need to get with the program and stop jumping in and out of the sport every time the weather changes. that would probably go a long way toward not embarressing themselves every time a new engine has to be designed.
I'm not sure that's true, apart from the new engine embarrassment and scrapped and restarted programme part which is true. Honda's slogan in 2018 was literally: "50 years in Formula One: Success
and Failure"
For example,
..the RA109E underwent two major design changes. In the initial design, the engine's V-bank angle was set at 80-degrees, but the engine was plagued by vibration. After review, the bank angle was changed to 72-degrees, and a balancer shaft, which was revolutionary for a racing engine, was incorporated to reduce vibration. Another design change was to replace the timing belt drive with a timing gear drive, as the team discovered in testing that the timing belt drive lacked durability and reliability. This drastic design change was made with only three months to the start of the 1989 season, and was implemented just in time for the season-opener.
- Honda Racing
https://global.honda/en/POWEREDbyHONDA/1989_ra109e/
Can you imagine the Ferrari website saying that‽ "The Tipo 038 suffered from excessive oil consumption", it just doesn't happen, does it?
So embracing failure is the Honda way and that's OK.
The RA109E was fixed in design mere months before the series opener and the corrected parts were made with mere weeks to spare, whilst the RA626H was
not fixed in time.
That's motor racing, no?
Of course Aston Martin Racing presumably wishes they had retained their customer Mercedes contract, and it seems like it will be difficult for them to get another such Mercedes contract (supposedly Red Bull Ford is within 9hp of Mercedes at least on the ICE and Wolff claims Red Bull Ford's ERS is the best, so if true that could actually be a pretty good choice!) but it is what it is.
In the next round of regulations, Aston Martin Racing may choose to lobby for 3.2L V12s that will enable them to commission their own Cosworth engine, analogous to the one in their WEC car.
Obviously the air-cooled V8 that Honda built to combat the benchmark Cosworth DFV V8 was so terrible, the company withdrew from the sport entirely, amongst many times! Failure is always an option.
