2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[Ashwinv16]

From Fp1 the biggest issue seems to be understeer on corner entry.

[TyreSlip]

From Fp1 the biggest issue seems to be understeer on corner entry.

Makes sense. There was talk that this car lacked a strong front end.

[etusch]

I'm sure you're aware, the Hondas of the last few years have always sounded aggressive (sounds better than saying rough! - honestly I do think they've sounded good and somewhat characterful given the constraints of the current rules). Maybe he was running a different mode, or energy recovery strategy. Or maybe yes, just some mic difference. I guess we'll find out about vibration status at the end of the day once the team comments are out.

It's worth noting that Aston engineers have been over in Japan (seemingly through ther break if I interpret reports properly, at the very least they've been in close collaboration), along with a car, so it's not as though Honda were doing this on their own, though the PU-side obviously is predominantly in their hands.

Also Orihara said, “We have made some progress, allowing us to implement further countermeasures in Miami and later in the season", so there's seemingly more to come if this is to be taken as an accurate quote (I'd speculate that means with an ADUO upgraded engine, but who knows).

Although there are no chassis aero upgrades declared, I suppose that leaves the possibility that some weight reduction occurred, but so far I haven't seen anything reported to that effect.

Edit: typed out in response to GoranF1, and then the couple of posts above arrived whilst I was doing so, thanks for the info!

Introducing chassis upgrade at sprint weekend is not so good and + only pu improvements to see real affectiveness of them

[Rikrikrik]

After all things, its positive. Its not worse than Melbourne. It is already a step forward. Seems a "normal" team, but slow.

[GoranF1]

From Fp1 the biggest issue seems to be understeer on corner entry.

Also big problems on rear traction out of last corner.

[V10FURY]

Stroll out after huge lock up
Alonso bailed on his fast lap. Not good…

On the other hand Perez in the
Cadillac looks improved this weekend for sure, only 3 tenths away from 14th and 1 second away from 9th! That’s a huge step for that team and shows some great momentum. Aston needs to get its act together here as it is starting to become a serious embarrassment.

[SSJ4]

Stroll out after huge lock up
Alonso bailed on his fast lap. Not good…

On the other hand Perez in the
Cadillac looks improved this weekend for sure, only 3 tenths away from 14th and 1 second away from 9th! That’s a huge step for that team and shows some great momentum. Aston needs to get its act together here as it is starting to become a serious embarrassment.

active aero failed for alonso. thats what caused the lockup

[Rockypeeters]

5 weeks and AM has somehow gotten slower.

[SealTheRealDeal]

5 weeks and AM has somehow gotten slower.

That was expected given how the season started wasn't it? The other teams could focus on performance while Aston worked on making its car actually function.

[bigblue]

Aston F1's website is quite hard to navigate. Currently there are a couple of minimal quotes from the drivers here, just mentioning locking (both), and improvements to vibrations (Alonso) without much more.

Edit: actually Stroll said they both experienced locking, Alonso mentioned the vibration improvement and lack of pace.

[mzso]

The commentators claimed Alonso was massaging his wrists after FP... Doesn't sound like the vibrations are at a reasonable level.

[Emag]

I think people should accept this is a failed project for this season (at the very least). They're always going to undersell the severity of the issues, because nobody wants to come out and say "yes, we are horrible at our job".

It's what happened in 2015 as well. This time it's not for the same reasons, but rush certainly played a role in it. Honda should learn to just say no to some requests. A power unit that compromises the chassis but outputs acceptable power is 100 times better than whatever they ended up with this season.

There isn't much to salvage for this season, which is why they should just use it as a testing platform so that the 2nd iteration next year isn't as embarrassing.

[diffuser]

Aston F1's website is quite hard to navigate. Currently there are a couple of minimal quotes from the drivers here, just mentioning locking (both), and improvements to vibrations (Alonso) without much more.

ALONSO...
A tough Friday for the team here in Miami.

"Honda have made some improvements on the vibrations since the first few races, but we're still lacking pace.

"It's a process that will take time, and we need to stay patient. We'll look at the data tonight and try to make the most of the rest of the weekend."

[zoroastar]

stroll didnt make his final run because of vibrations. i couldnt understand whether it was caused by his off or it was ongoing through the run. it seems like its intermitent

[HondaPOD]

stroll didnt make his final run because of vibrations. i couldnt understand whether it was caused by his off or it was ongoing through the run. it seems like its intermitent

Stroll was unable to complete his final lap because he braked so hard that he damaged his tire. He could have let it go into the run-off area and started another lap. He also impeded Alonso.
The vibrations are due to that.