2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[zoroastar]

That might be one of the reasons why they put that big arch on the “ARM.” It’s not gonna be banned for 2027. It would also be helpful in Baku. Questions like that always come down to whether they can make bigger gains elsewhere.

i remember somebody saying they were working on one real early in the season. it would be cool to see, and monza/baku would be the places to unveil it if they were going to. maybe they needed to change the apparatus that engages the wing to make it work right.

Nobody said that. The riporter asked Mike if they will change the rear wing to a Ferrari style. He told ,we focus on our side and we will make which is the best for our package.

perhaps i shouldve phrased that differently. i didnt mean they said they were physically building one. only that they were looking into it. but someone on a podcast said they may be adding one. cant remember its been so long. you wanna bet that they have one by next year? $$$

[diffuser]

Mercedes don't have the best ICE and they're winning, RBPT does and they're not. It wouldn't be the first time a Newey's team's car beat car with more power.

They have the best power unit with a decent margin. These are more or less electric cars. It's energy recovery and deployment that trumps raw ICE power. Whether thats down to software or what, IDK. AM-Honda seem to be particularly lacking in this area so far. Maybe McLaren has caught up with their software mapping. It could also be that Mercedes is still holding back some performance. I wouldn't hold my breath for any race wins anytime soon. Outside of complete flukes like the Ocon win in Hungary.

I'm projecting more for next year. They're still too far behind power wise this year We'll see how it plays out when they bring the drivability back. I doudt Mercedes is holding back and losing races.

[Bisonas]

IF Honda gets it together, they will be best of the rest by the tail end of the season. The insane amount of wind tunnel allowance and Adrian settling down in a good team around him, 33 is coming, I have wait for 13 years and I have never had a stronger feeling bar 2023.

As i said in earlier post, I find it really difficult with that momentum, and with the B-spec car and upgraded engine on such early stages, and with all the things that are coming in the next races (weight reduction, aero upgrades, setup refinements, engine software refinements, drivability and deployment improvements etc, I find it really difficult not be the 5th fastest car in the next 2-5 races no matter the remaining Honda engine power deficit.

For me the race Alonso had at Zandvoort totally convinced me about the race pace and the car potential.

In my eyes by Singapore at the latest, AMR will be de facto the 5th fastest team and i believe that by Singapore, on specific tracks with certain track characteristics, Alonso will also be mixing it with drivers of the top4 teams that are having a bad weekend.

Leaving out Monza, which probably will be the toughest track for them at this stage, i am looking forward for the Spanish gp at Madrid mid September. The Spanish GP will show us a true glimpse of the overall progress of the upgraded engine development.

It's a very interesting circuit that seems to suit AMR, with some very fast corners, with fast flowing sections, with chicanes, with some 90 degrees corners and it should also be a high deg front-limited track. BUT.. there is a very interesting but.. It also has an 1km+ flat out section/straight from t2 to t5 with cars reaching 340+ km/h.
So it looks like the perfect track to test many things on aero side and engine side.

They will have time until then to refine the setup, to refine the engine software, refine drivability, optimize harvesting and deployment, and it should be the perfect track to actually show us a true first glimpse of the combining progress (Power + Harvesting + Deployment + Drivability) of the upgraded Honda engine.

We already know that the B-Spec aero is pretty good and on the right development path so i am looking forward at Madrid for Honda to show us that they really mean business !!

I will not judge them on Monza, because the track characteristics doesn't really help at all at this stage, but i will judge Honda at Madrid because the track characteristics and the aero aspect of the car will help them apply all their ideas regarding Power delivery, Harvesting, Deployment and drivability.

So for me, Madrid is the next crucial race for the team to monitor their true overall & combining progress on all sides. My feeling (after Dutch GP) is, that despite the 1km+ flat out section/straight from t2 to t5 at Madrid, if AMR and Honda manage to improve their 1 lap pace by then, have a decent qualifying and avoid running half the race behind slower cars, the race pace will prove to be in the "best of the rest" area.

[collindsilva]

Mercedes don't have the best ICE and they're winning, RBPT does and they're not. It wouldn't be the first time a Newey's team's car beat car with more power.

They have the best power unit with a decent margin. These are more or less electric cars. It's energy recovery and deployment that trumps raw ICE power. Whether thats down to software or what, IDK. AM-Honda seem to be particularly lacking in this area so far. Maybe McLaren has caught up with their software mapping. It could also be that Mercedes is still holding back some performance. I wouldn't hold my breath for any race wins anytime soon. Outside of complete flukes like the Ocon win in Hungary.

I'm projecting more for next year. They're still too far behind power wise this year We'll see how it plays out when they bring the drivability back. I doudt Mercedes is holding back and losing races.

Considering 2027 in mind, I am not sure the approach from AMR+Honda is the right one.
The engine for 2027 will be new (assuming based on various reporting), so they need to rework the software, drivability etc.
The Baseline for the chassis is good + New Gearbox (presumably)
we have let 10 races to go, it will take more than couple of races to fix the drivability and other issues and again increase the HP which is running on conservative mode may require further fine tuning.
It looks like 2026 season will be full time experimental mode.

[etusch]

https://www.threads.com/share/Du33xVlRm/

[KimiRai]

Tyre wear could worsen slightly if there is more power from Honda during acceleration in the future. There will be a need for more rear downforce. Rear of the car, diffuser area remains very simple compared to the top teams, lots of detail missing, so there is a lot of potential there.

[diffuser]

They have the best power unit with a decent margin. These are more or less electric cars. It's energy recovery and deployment that trumps raw ICE power. Whether thats down to software or what, IDK. AM-Honda seem to be particularly lacking in this area so far. Maybe McLaren has caught up with their software mapping. It could also be that Mercedes is still holding back some performance. I wouldn't hold my breath for any race wins anytime soon. Outside of complete flukes like the Ocon win in Hungary.

I'm projecting more for next year. They're still too far behind power wise this year We'll see how it plays out when they bring the drivability back. I doudt Mercedes is holding back and losing races.

Considering 2027 in mind, I am not sure the approach from AMR+Honda is the right one.
The engine for 2027 will be new (assuming based on various reporting), so they need to rework the software, drivability etc.
The Baseline for the chassis is good + New Gearbox (presumably)
we have let 10 races to go, it will take more than couple of races to fix the drivability and other issues and again increase the HP which is running on conservative mode may require further fine tuning.
It looks like 2026 season will be full time experimental mode.

#1 in 2027, you'll have testing to fix the drivability, not 1 FP, then poof you're in parc ferme.
#2 You're also presuming that every PU upgrade will require drivability adjustments and not that there wasn't something specific to this upgrade.
#3 I doudt that bext years ICE will be all new. It might max as big an update as this year. The block, connecting rods, crankshaft, etc will not change.

[collindsilva]

Tyre wear could worsen slightly if there is more power from Honda during acceleration in the future. There will be a need for more rear downforce. Rear of the car, diffuser area remains very simple compared to the top teams, lots of detail missing, so there is a lot of potential there.

The AMR is already very draggy

[diffuser]

Tyre wear could worsen slightly if there is more power from Honda during acceleration in the future. There will be a need for more rear downforce. Rear of the car, diffuser area remains very simple compared to the top teams, lots of detail missing, so there is a lot of potential there.

The AMR is already very draggy

Really????? How do you know? Since tge Hnda ICE is the weakest by alot. You have to presume tge AMR26 has the LEAST drag of all the cars.

[KimiRai]

Tyre wear could worsen slightly if there is more power from Honda during acceleration in the future. There will be a need for more rear downforce. Rear of the car, diffuser area remains very simple compared to the top teams, lots of detail missing, so there is a lot of potential there.

The AMR is already very draggy

Then add a macarena wing to shed off that rear downforce

[Bisonas]

Tyre wear could worsen slightly if there is more power from Honda during acceleration in the future. There will be a need for more rear downforce. Rear of the car, diffuser area remains very simple compared to the top teams, lots of detail missing, so there is a lot of potential there.

The AMR is already very draggy

IMO It's impossible to know the actual aerodynamic drag levels at this stage unless you have access to all AMR data aero side and Honda engine side. Only they (the team) really knows what's going on.

Even if someone analyzes gps data and telemetry, if you don't have all the inside data/parameters regarding the Honda engine, i don't think anyone can really determine the actual drag levels.

I am not saying this because i am an engineer or a aerodynamicist, i am saying this as common sense in my own mind.
If i am wrong an engineer or an aerodynamicist should correct me and explain to us how drag levels can be accurately determined without knowing all the data/parameters on the engine side.

Maybe i am wrong, i don't know !!

[Bisonas]

Tyre wear could worsen slightly if there is more power from Honda during acceleration in the future. There will be a need for more rear downforce. Rear of the car, diffuser area remains very simple compared to the top teams, lots of detail missing, so there is a lot of potential there.

Regarding tyre wear what you say it's true but i think it will be a factor only on stop and go, rear limited type of tracks with a lot of heavy acceleration zones. I don't think it is such a big factor on front limited tracks.
Either way i would easily always choose more power to what ever penalty that gives on tyre wear. I think that the compounded positive effects of more power is way more crucial and strong than any let's say negative effects.

Now regarding the rear of the car and the diffuser that seems simple as you said i don't really have the technical knowledge to argue with you because i am not an aerodynamicist, but because i like to analyze data and make my arguments based on them, for the conversation sake i would like to point out that AMR was one of the fastest if not the fastest car from t7 to t9 at Zandvoort (running on free air) and best of the rest in overall cornering speed while running on free air. If in did the diffuser is that simple as you said compared to others then that's even more encouraging news.

[KimiRai]

Tyre wear could worsen slightly if there is more power from Honda during acceleration in the future. There will be a need for more rear downforce. Rear of the car, diffuser area remains very simple compared to the top teams, lots of detail missing, so there is a lot of potential there.

Regarding tyre wear what you say it's true but i think it will be a factor only on stop and go, rear limited type of tracks with a lot of heavy acceleration zones. I don't think it is such a big factor on front limited tracks.
Either way i would easily always choose more power to what ever penalty that gives on tyre wear. I think that the compounded positive effects of more power is way more crucial and strong than any let's say negative effects.

Now regarding the rear of the car and the diffuser that seems simple as you said i don't really have the technical knowledge to argue with you because i am not an aerodynamicist, but because i like to analyze data and make my arguments based on them, for the conversation sake i would like to point out that AMR was one of the fastest if not the fastest car from t7 to t9 at Zandvoort (running on free air) and best of the rest in overall cornering speed while running on free air. If in did the diffuser is that simple as you said compared to others then that's even more encouraging news.

I'm not an aero person also. Take my comments with a grain of salt as I have no clue what I'm saying of course. It's just that visually it seems to me a lack of detail in the Aston diffuser compared to top teams. But obvs no real clue from my part. No idea what the data, cfd says and more complex is not always faster etc.

[Bisonas]

Tyre wear could worsen slightly if there is more power from Honda during acceleration in the future. There will be a need for more rear downforce. Rear of the car, diffuser area remains very simple compared to the top teams, lots of detail missing, so there is a lot of potential there.

Regarding tyre wear what you say it's true but i think it will be a factor only on stop and go, rear limited type of tracks with a lot of heavy acceleration zones. I don't think it is such a big factor on front limited tracks.
Either way i would easily always choose more power to what ever penalty that gives on tyre wear. I think that the compounded positive effects of more power is way more crucial and strong than any let's say negative effects.

Now regarding the rear of the car and the diffuser that seems simple as you said i don't really have the technical knowledge to argue with you because i am not an aerodynamicist, but because i like to analyze data and make my arguments based on them, for the conversation sake i would like to point out that AMR was one of the fastest if not the fastest car from t7 to t9 at Zandvoort (running on free air) and best of the rest in overall cornering speed while running on free air. If in did the diffuser is that simple as you said compared to others then that's even more encouraging news.

I'm not an aero person also. Take my comments with a grain of salt as I have no clue what I'm saying of course. It's just many years of watching F1 and visually it seems to me a lack of detail in the Aston diffuser compared to top teams. But obvs no real clue from my part.

We are in the same boat then, not aerodynamicists with years of f1 experience with what ever technical knowledge we accumulated over the years as common sense and as f1 knowledge in general. For me, it happens to have a thing for data analysis, and spend some more time analyzing live timing, onboards videos, onboard radio and some telemetry data and some statistics in order to have a clearer view of a race progression.
I guess most of the lets say, not engineering/technical persons on this forum that follows F1 closely and also follow this forum for years we are in the same boat.

[diffuser]

Tyre wear could worsen slightly if there is more power from Honda during acceleration in the future. There will be a need for more rear downforce. Rear of the car, diffuser area remains very simple compared to the top teams, lots of detail missing, so there is a lot of potential there.

Regarding tyre wear what you say it's true but i think it will be a factor only on stop and go, rear limited type of tracks with a lot of heavy acceleration zones. I don't think it is such a big factor on front limited tracks.
Either way i would easily always choose more power to what ever penalty that gives on tyre wear. I think that the compounded positive effects of more power is way more crucial and strong than any let's say negative effects.

Now regarding the rear of the car and the diffuser that seems simple as you said i don't really have the technical knowledge to argue with you because i am not an aerodynamicist, but because i like to analyze data and make my arguments based on them, for the conversation sake i would like to point out that AMR was one of the fastest if not the fastest car from t7 to t9 at Zandvoort (running on free air) and best of the rest in overall cornering speed while running on free air. If in did the diffuser is that simple as you said compared to others then that's even more encouraging news.

I'm, not sure that's true. The potential is there to cause more damage to the tire, as Stroll shows us at every race. If you have more power but the driver adjust his throttle response so he only deploys the same amount of power at the same time as before and waits till he's at a high enough speed(enough down force) to deploy full power, there isn't gonna be more degradation. If he's at a higher speed there is be more deg on braking but it doesn't mean he will not do the same thing as he did at Zandvoort in the later stages of the Soft tire stint and not use 8th gear.

One also has to imagine that when drivability improves, that will have a positive effect on tire wear.