2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[yernikola]

Honestly? All this criticism of Honda and Aston Martin right now feels like an emotional outburst rather than a constructive discussion. Yes, they're currently experiencing genuine issues with their battery/hybrid system during testing—the news has already reported on this, and the team's mileage was severely limited during testing in Bahrain. But that doesn't mean Honda "doesn't deserve a place in F1" or that they're "bad as a manufacturer"—they've won and won titles in the past (including success with Red Bull), and they're developing a completely new engine architecture for the 2026 season. All teams are currently facing a challenging task due to the new regulations, and Aston Martin was simply late in preparing their car and collecting data, which is critical in such a complex system. Plus, openly criticizing Honda without understanding the details of the engineering problems (where exactly is the bottleneck—the battery, the recovery system, the software, or simply a lack of resources?) is like discussing Formula 1 through the eyes of a fan without knowledge of physics, aerodynamics, and energy systems.

[AR3-GP]

https://jp.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-20 ... /10800659/
Translated:

“In the pre-season test, we saw abnormal vibrations. I think that the major cause was that the abnormal vibration caused damage to the battery system system."

"On the other hand, the PU side is, of course, trying to investigate the cause and take measures. We are also taking measures on the side of the car.”

“But what we’re actually doing specifically is that while using the Sakura bench, we are currently using a test bench with a monocoque, and we are actually taking measures against the vibration or analyzing it.”

“The battery system was damaged by abnormal vibrations caused by a combined force of a combined factor in the run. We are working with Aston Martin to solve it, and we are working towards the opening.”

　However, President Watanabe and Managing Director Takeishi also declared that they would take as much action as possible before the opening match. Mr. Takeishi concluded by saying the following.

“There are a lot of things, but we’re going to win.”

Alternative translation by Grok:

"During pre-season testing, we observed abnormal vibrations. I believe the main cause was that these abnormal vibrations inflicted damage on the battery system."
"Of course, on the PU side, we are investigating the root cause and planning countermeasures. At the same time, measures are being implemented on the chassis side as well."
"As for what we're specifically doing right now: using the Sakura bench along with a test rig that has the monocoque mounted, we are carrying out vibration countermeasures and analysis while actively applying fixes."
"Abnormal vibrations from complex factors during on-track running damaged the battery system. Together with Aston Martin, we are working to resolve this ahead of the season opener.
"Both President Watanabe and Executive Director Takeishi declared they will implement every possible measure before the first race. Executive Director Takeishi concluded:
"There are various challenges, but we will definitely go for victory."

Continued:

Takeishi: "There were no vibration issues at Red Bull, but I think one reason for that is this time's major rule changes. Another possible reason could be the significant changes in the connection unit. Naturally, the main source of vibration is the power unit. However, as is common in vehicle development processes, when the unit is integrated into the car, it combines with inputs from the road surface, and vibrations arise from the convergence of various factors. As a result, it's quite difficult to pinpoint exactly why this situation, which didn't occur at Red Bull, is happening this time. Therefore, this isn't a matter of which team has superior technical capabilities. On the contrary, it's about considering the car as a whole; unfortunately, the converging factors have produced a challenging outcome this time."

Honda think the vibrations are the result of the union of PU and the chassis and it's not something they experienced at Red Bull. They have suggested that changes will be made on the chassis side because the vibrations are not a clear cut PU issue (other than damaging the battery). Seems like there is a chassis resonance.

[Bill]

Question I have, is why didn't Honda tell him no and that it was too late to make such changes?

I would expect there to be an equal partnership agreement with your PU supplier, especially you're Honda's works team.

The changes were done to make a quick car to help with aero packaging , so nothing wrong with changes that's the f1 way the car is continuously evolving. Honda hired someone they worked with from redbull so I hope now information will widely available.

[venkyhere]

Continued:

Takeishi: "There were no vibration issues at Red Bull, but I think one reason for that is this time's major rule changes. Another possible reason could be the significant changes in the connection unit. Naturally, the main source of vibration is the power unit. However, as is common in vehicle development processes, when the unit is integrated into the car, it combines with inputs from the road surface, and vibrations arise from the convergence of various factors. As a result, it's quite difficult to pinpoint exactly why this situation, which didn't occur at Red Bull, is happening this time. Therefore, this isn't a matter of which team has superior technical capabilities. On the contrary, it's about considering the car as a whole; unfortunately, the converging factors have produced a challenging outcome this time."

Honda think the vibrations are the result of the union of PU and the chassis and it's not something they experienced at Red Bull. They have suggested that changes will be made on the chassis side because the vibrations are not a clear cut PU issue (other than damaging the battery). Seems like there is a chassis resonance.

How about the rear wheels rear upper wishbone connected to the location where it can yank (at some 'unfortunate' frequency close to some Nth harmonic of natural freq of the powertrain assembly) the exhaust pipe ? A pipe which has a 'long leverage' to the exhaust ports of the engine itself ? Other teams connect this to gearbox casing, which has a dampener (clutch and clutch springs) in between the PU and suspension vibrations.

[FW17]

--- poor project management by Aston Martin




Honda USA should get a Blonde bombshell from the Whitehouse and put the Brit press in its place.

[Bill]

I just want to know why the vibration were not identified during development when the pu was mated to the Gearbox, with all testbenchs they have in Sakura. It looks like they are doing it only now

[collindsilva]

I just want to know why the vibration were not identified during development when the pu was mated to the Gearbox, with all testbenchs they have in Sakura. It looks like they are doing it only now

Seems they were late due to all the redesign

[markc]

Maybe Honda hadn't anticipated the extreme rear geometry in the mix and once it was all integrated and on the track the issues manifested?

[diffuser]

What was distinctive was that there were two tiers of orange square objects sitting in front of the internal combustion engine (ICE). This orange box is the battery (Energy Store = ES) and the control electronics (CE), which is the electronic device that controls the power unit. Until last year, these two were laid out in front and back and were one tier.

Why did it become a second tier? According to the head of development, Tetsushi Tsunoda, the large project leader (LPL), revealed that there was a request from the team.

"As we proceeded with the development of the new car, the team requested that it be compact and shorten (the overall length) as much as possible, so we decided to make it a two-stage car."

https://www.as-web.jp/f1/1286322?all

There was a "request" last year to change the energy store. Who joined Aston Martin last year? Adrian Newey. Fast forward to 2026, Honda having energy store problems.

This is Adrian Newey's signature. Push everything to the last minute, push packaging to the brink, push the PU manufacturer to the limit, and create reliability problems. He is a brilliant engineer, but he is also known for causing great strife to technical partners.

I don't agree with people trying to dump this solely on Honda and imo the relationship is already broken. Newey is uncompromising and has little patience when Honda needed the patience that was shown by Franz Tost in 2018. It is Newey's words that leaked from the F1 commission and further damaged Honda's reputation. The media and fans have been relentless and 1-sided in blaming Honda but it is because they don't understand how Formula 1 works.

https://i.postimg.cc/28js1frP/image.png

Honda developed one PU for 2.5 years and then were asked to change everything less than 9 months before the pre-season. Honda has been dealt a bad hand and thrown under the bus. They've been judged unfairly by media and f1 fans.

I know this won't fit the "Newey good, Honda bad" narrative that is being pedaled here. It was always more complicated than that. Honda would probably have a perfectly functioning PU if they didn't change anything 1 year ago. They've attempted to accommodate Newey's request for the greater good, and that caused some problems. AMR should be standing behind them more because so far this has been a PR and reputational disaster for Honda.

We are seeing that Adrian Newey as team principal has its limits. Brilliant designer (Mclaren, Williams, RBR) but hasn't got a clue how to support partners as a team principal. He's only poured gasoline on the fire with his remarks at the f1 commission. Newey in his role as tp should be more open about wanting Honda to change everything at the last minute and causing the problems.

I do not subscribe to the view that Honda should be blamed for everything, nor do I believe you have demonstrated that the changes Honda was asked to implement were sufficiently complex to have caused their reliability issues.

Furthermore, I do not favor the decisions made by the AM F1 team, which resulted in a seventh-place finish in 2025, over the changes proposed by one of Formula 1’s leading designers.

[Bill]

First they is nothing fundamentally wrong with powerunit. They are vibrations but Noone can pinpoint were they can from .personally I think the first romour of an undercooked gearbox maybe root of all problems.

[f1isgood]

Honda and Aston can use a few races as testing to understand the issues better. Honda is unlikely to have a big power deficit in any case. Should get itself sorted soon enough as long as the chassis is good.

[f1Follower]

First they is nothing fundamentally wrong with powerunit. They are vibrations but Noone can pinpoint were they can from .personally I think the first romour of an undercooked gearbox maybe root of all problems.

It's AM F1 team who creates gearbox and not Honda

[Bill]

First they is nothing fundamentally wrong with powerunit. They are vibrations but Noone can pinpoint were they can from .personally I think the first romour of an undercooked gearbox maybe root of all problems.

It's AM F1 team who creates gearbox and not Honda

I know that what trying to get at is everyone seem keen to blame honda.if it was a honda problem the would have admitted it they are usually direct and open about were there problems lie.

[FNTC]

"Of course, on the PU side, we are investigating the root cause and planning countermeasures. At the same time, measures are being implemented on the chassis side as well."

It's probably a combination of engine package and chassis.

[Leon Kennedy]

"Of course, on the PU side, we are investigating the root cause and planning countermeasures. At the same time, measures are being implemented on the chassis side as well."

It's probably a combination of engine package and chassis.

All correct, but they have publicly admitted that they are behind on the ICE program. I don't understand what's wrong with admitting that Honda made a mistake? I mean, guys, they admitted it too. Reliability issues are one thing, performance issues are another.