2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[HPD]

[FNTC]

Running a detuned engine, obviously they lose on the straights

[zoroastar]

Not sure how reputable these guys are...it was a good read.

https://formula1-data.com/article/alons ... hatgpt.com

Honda is back on the F1 stage at the start of the 2026 season, but its steps are heavy enough to evoke its dark partnership with McLaren. Fernando Alonso (Aston Martin) said he believes his criticism of Honda from 10 years ago could be understood now.

The scene at the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix when Alonso, who was with McLaren, criticized Honda's power unit over the radio as a "GP2 engine" is a memorable memory for Japanese F1 fans. This statement caused a huge stir around the world at the time. There was also a lot of criticism of Alonso.

Alonso said ahead of the second race, the Chinese Grand Prix: "In a way, it's been 10 years now and the way things looked at me at the time may have changed a bit. "Maybe now they think I was right about what I said and did 10 years ago," he said.

"We should have applauded and celebrated," Alonso says of the reality at the time.

Alonso recalls that he was not alone in his frustrations at McLaren at the time. Teammates Jenson Button and Stoffel Vandoorne, as well as the team as a whole, were on the same page, saying "neither the project nor the power unit was mature enough at the start."

"I think it was a frustrated comment on the radio, but up until 2〜3 years ago it seemed like I was criticizing like crazy 10 years ago," Alonso said.

"As a two-time competitive world champion, there's no way I'd be happy with the situation. It's about whether we should have applauded in the car and been happy."

"But now, by comparing the situation then with the situation now, I think people are a little more understanding of us and more understanding of the issues."

The current situation at Aston Martin Honda overlaps with that of McLaren Honda 10 years ago. Last weekend's opening race, the Australian Grand Prix, forced him to limit the number of laps he could complete, and in the final he focused on collecting data, positioning it as "practice" rather than competing for positions with other cars.

Referring to the fact that the car has only covered about one-tenth of its rivals' total mileage since pre-season testing, Alonso said the car has not yet been able to optimise or even take a step beyond the "starting point".

To make matters worse, there is a shortage of spare parts. A series of problems have depleted the spare battery, forcing the team to walk a tightrope where trouble is not an option, a situation that is expected to continue at this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix.

Honda Racing (HRC) trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara said the battery, which suffered problems in the opening race, was continuing to be repaired, but declined to say how many reserves there would be at the Chinese Grand Prix.

"One team" to work together to resolve the issue, but one side remains uncertain.

Meanwhile, Alonso stressed his commitment to working together with "we are one team" and revealed that Aston is allocating its resources to PU development, particularly in the areas of vibration issues and deployment, to solve the challenges facing Honda.

"F1 today is different from what it used to be. There's all the data, there's GPS. There is also analysis that can be obtained from other teams. With those resources, we can help Honda focus on one issue and support them in the power unit area."

However, no resolution has been expected. With the third race, the Japanese Grand Prix, set at Suzuka Circuit, where Honda is at his knees, coming up, Alonso admits it's "hard to predict" when a normal race will be possible.

"There are still too many problems, and every day there are sudden problems with no clear cause. So it feels like we don't fully grasp the problem yet."

Even if further reliability issues are resolved, new challenges lie ahead in improving performance.

"Honestly, I think it will take more time to become competitive. We need to fix the reliability issues first, but we're also lagging behind in power. So it feels like there are two stages."

Alonso's goal for this weekend's Chinese Grand Prix is neither points nor a podium finish.

"I'll do pretty much normal free practice and qualifying, do lots of laps and be happy if I can tackle the full race distance on Sunday."

here it is straight from his mouth.

[zoroastar]

A funny thing about ADUO is that Honda isn't pushing their engine (for reliability reasons) and it's likely Mercedes isn't either (because they can aford to and also in order to not give ADUO to others). So we get ADUO based on two "artificial" numbers.

We know Honda is not allowing 100% running/ revs for reliability and vibration issues. I think it is fairly obvious Mercedes are not running at full power either as they don’t want anyone else getting 2 mid season upgrades to the engine. Honda are obviously way off the benchmark and if the rumors are true and it is 50hp down or so then they will get relief in the rules. Is Cadillac getting an engine upgrade? How about Williams? The Ferrari motor looks fine in the other teams as does the Mercedes of course. So I hope the FIA have an engine from each manufacturer running on their own engine dyno, or at the teams facilities. If it is just using telemetry at the track then that seems ridiculous.

Once Kimi had a penalty in the race he magically turned up his pace considerably. I was a bit disappointed that George qualified 2nd in Q3 as I would have loved to see what his true speed would have been from P10. Ferrari are at least 5 tenths off minimum of what Mercedes can do. I think they still have left over sand from the beach in their cars so the rest of the field, except potentially Honda, can”t upgrade their motors. Let’s see in the race how many seconds they are in front and win by. My guess is under 8 seconds to keep it close enough.

yeah, this is what worries me. merc have no reason to turn their ice up any more than is absolutely necessary to win. if theyre sandbagging it could be one of the reasons their customer teams are complaning about not getting the support theyre used to. mclaren having as much power as mercedes could force them to show their full hand. im sure mercedes want to draw this out as long as they can. just a theory. but hopefully the FIA arent completely useless in how they are planning on measuring this stuff. either way, i dont think theres a chance in hell that honda wont qualify for some upgrades. if they are denied 2 upgrades i think its going to raise a lot of concerns with everyone that the ADUO is useless.

[Ashwinv16]

A funny thing about ADUO is that Honda isn't pushing their engine (for reliability reasons) and it's likely Mercedes isn't either (because they can aford to and also in order to not give ADUO to others). So we get ADUO based on two "artificial" numbers.

We know Honda is not allowing 100% running/ revs for reliability and vibration issues. I think it is fairly obvious Mercedes are not running at full power either as they don’t want anyone else getting 2 mid season upgrades to the engine. Honda are obviously way off the benchmark and if the rumors are true and it is 50hp down or so then they will get relief in the rules. Is Cadillac getting an engine upgrade? How about Williams? The Ferrari motor looks fine in the other teams as does the Mercedes of course. So I hope the FIA have an engine from each manufacturer running on their own engine dyno, or at the teams facilities. If it is just using telemetry at the track then that seems ridiculous.

Once Kimi had a penalty in the race he magically turned up his pace considerably. I was a bit disappointed that George qualified 2nd in Q3 as I would have loved to see what his true speed would have been from P10. Ferrari are at least 5 tenths off minimum of what Mercedes can do. I think they still have left over sand from the beach in their cars so the rest of the field, except potentially Honda, can”t upgrade their motors. Let’s see in the race how many seconds they are in front and win by. My guess is under 8 seconds to keep it close enough.

yeah, this is what worries me. merc have no reason to turn their ice up any more than is absolutely necessary to win. if theyre sandbagging it could be one of the reasons their customer teams are complaning about not getting the support theyre used to. mclaren having as much power as mercedes could force them to show their full hand. im sure mercedes want to draw this out as long as they can. just a theory. but hopefully the FIA arent completely useless in how they are planning on measuring this stuff. either way, i dont think theres a chance in hell that honda wont qualify for some upgrades. if they are denied 2 upgrades i think its going to raise a lot of concerns with everyone that the ADUO is useless.

If Aston score a pojt they immediately drop into the 2% to 4% range.

[Ashwinv16]

P10 again on lap 1, electric start, but Alonso just told his engineer to only give gap to Lance as others are not in the race. And is just letting people go. Sad but we move.

[restless]

I don't see how Merc could be sandbagging when they have 3 customer teams. If so, do they force them to run detuned too?
That being said, Honda has some horsepower to recover even if they manage to run the engine at max eventually.

easily said with 1 word: software

They can give "same management software" and sandbag - simply limiting what parameters can be used to tweak.
And once ADUO period ends, they will "find out" that better parameters can be used...

[Ashwinv16]

Stroll is currently much faster with no graining, Alonso's tires are graining hard. Maybe set-up differences

Edit: Gearbox gone....., it went the moment he clicked Overtake mode LOL. Could be clutch slipping in the motor though. Things that could have been figured out during testing.

[ispano6]

Over the radio, Lance's engineer stated you have overtake, it will happen automatically and then all power went out.
Steering wheel and everything.

[etusch]

Stroll is currently much faster with no graining, Alonso's tires are graining hard. Maybe set-up differences

Edit: Gearbox gone....., it went the moment he clicked Overtake mode LOL. Could be clutch slipping in the motor though. Things that could have been figured out during testing.

Detuned engine brakes gb. Then what will be with full power?

[etusch]

Will they go full power for last stint on soft?

[Ashwinv16]

Stroll is currently much faster with no graining, Alonso's tires are graining hard. Maybe set-up differences

Edit: Gearbox gone....., it went the moment he clicked Overtake mode LOL. Could be clutch slipping in the motor though. Things that could have been figured out during testing.

Detuned engine brakes gb. Then what will be with full power?

Engine Detuned doesn't mean anything. It looks like a simple failure of the motor clutch or the gearbox considering the engine failed as soon as he pressed overtake. Alonso pressed OT multiple times so finger crossed for him as well. Stroll was much faster on the straights maybe they pushed his engine a bit more just to see.

[Nikosar]

Painful to watch…