2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[FNTC]

[Petebass]

Well. It seems like everyone was wrong. It's worse than even the worst predictions.

Everyone? Lot of us are telling that in every post.
New, Alo, Str, Krack are telling that since the beginning; vibrations are not the problem, Power is.
Nothing till 2027. Mid 26 perhaps Honda brings a New Spec with minor problems but lack of power Will be there.

[diffuser]

Well. It seems like everyone was wrong. It's worse than even the worst predictions.

Everyone? Lot of us are telling that in every post.
New, Alo, Str, Krack are telling that since the beginning; vibrations are not the problem, Power is.
Nothing till 2027. Mid 26 perhaps Honda brings a New Spec with minor problems but lack of power Will be there.

I still can't believe they did it again! That they learned NOTHING from 2015. That they're paying $200M a year for publicity that is basically saying "we are incompetent". It makes zero sense to me.


Still holding out hope that this isn't true.

[dren]

[Waz]

This fits what Marko said.

And I add more. I know from very, very reliable sources that they don't expect to be able to finish a race until Spa

In the Belgian GP the first real improvements may arrive, until then null hopes

If this is true, then Honda should be held financially liable and pay for any debt that Aston Martin takes on till then. Honda should issue a public statement apologizing to Aston Martin.

Honda does this because they are entitled and think they can get away with doing this, come and go when they please, leave customer teams hanging, then re-enter F1 with a bad engine that puts customer teams at the back of the grid waiting an entire season or 3 to 4 seasons for a competitive engine.

FIA needs to change the rules and hold automakers (Honda, BMW, Toyota) accountable to the smaller customer teams they supply engines to. Automakers have to financially compensate teams if they do not put forth a competitive engine that hurts teams in the Constructors Championship as independent teams rely on revenue from the Constructors Championship.

These European based teams that design the aero/chassis employ 400 to 1000+ people and have to pay their salaries. Large corporate multi-national automakers are not loyal to them and show a disregard to the customer teams.

This would not be such a big problem if Honda built it all 100% in-house in Japan at the Honda Japanese factory building their own chassis/aero/suspension/gearbox/engine and they take all the profit and all the debt on themselves but, they don't build it all in Japan, they supply engines to EU teams who are dependent on Honda.

I hope this is not true and Honda makes some big gains in performance for 2026.

I don't know who writes the Honda contracts, but after their abysmal engines nearly bankrupted McLaren and ruined them, McLaren were still forced into paying $60 million for ending the deal early.

So the idea that Honda will be paying compensation is just wishful thinking.

[etusch]

My concern with Honda their ability in the ERS development as I believe RBPT2026 (now RB Ford PT) have started working on the 2026 ERS development without Honda since 2024. Perhaps this is the reason why Alonso said, at the start of the race, we are equal on the battery, but once race start, its world championship of battery.

For this reason, the challenges may actually be worst than thought because ICE side of PU is easier for Honda to fix.

I heard during lasst motogp race that Honda canalised all the sources to F1 pu development for the moment. I don't know if it is true.
I think if the issue with the pu is ers, it is easier compared to engine. Still I think it is because of mgu-k structure. It's one side is nearly free and when we think honda worked on vibration of mgu-k while it was placed side of the engine during previous formula, in this layout, it will vibrate, it will vibrate more and harder and when we think about its place, we can understand why it damages battery. If what I said is true, maybe they need to change its placement fully.
When the vibration issue is solved, it's all about electronics and long works on simulation to determine best recovery and deployment map. More simulation driver and simulator is so important I think.

To get the ERS working and reliable is possible, but to beat the best on the grid within 6 months that is harder part.

They are not stood at starting point. They are just behind. Already made lots of work. So it can not be calculated like that.

[etusch]

ALO is already a father. Congrats to him and wifey, but no more 130R risky moves this weekend (even if he had the car to do so...)

"Following Fernando Alonso’s audacious 2005 130R overtake on Michael Schumacher, he claimed he knew Schumacher would brake because he was a father of two, saying, "I knew he'd brake, he has a wife and two kids at home. I don't". The move, at 208 mph, highlighted their different stakes"

I was there that day, in the Hairpin, though.

another 0.5 per lap lost in this crisis

[diffuser]

Well. It seems like everyone was wrong. It's worse than even the worst predictions.

Everyone? Lot of us are telling that in every post.
New, Alo, Str, Krack are telling that since the beginning; vibrations are not the problem, Power is.
Nothing till 2027. Mid 26 perhaps Honda brings a New Spec with minor problems but lack of power Will be there.

That's not true. You can't do anything on the performance side until you fix the vibrations. That's what Newey said too. He said vibration are the priority. You have to be able to walk before you can run. Right now we can't walk.

[AR3-GP]

another 0.5 per lap lost in this crisis

mourning

[diffuser]

I want to see what the team have in place in Miami which should give a clearer picture of the level of disaster Honda and Aston are facing. If it is a diabolical as that report then Stroll should be on the phone to Audi for next year as that is beyond unacceptable. This project will need 2-3 years to recover with Honda if it is that bad. I am hoping that report is complete nonsense and we can see a turn around starting in the next 3 months.

As for Aston Martin’s fortunes and Lawrence Stroll hemorrhaging cash this is a good read here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton ... ion-again/

That is a really poorly written article. It conflates AM Lagonda and AM F1 GP. Makes it seems like they're one company but they're not. AM F1 GP is the F1 team. it has the valuation of 3.2 B. It is not hemorrhaging cash. AM Lagonda is the motor car company. It's value is down to back to where it was when Stroll's led consortium investigated in it(between $0.5 to $1 B). AML was in trouble then, it's in trouble now. Think it's trying to say that AM L is selling it's share of AM F1 GP for $146M cause AML needs the cash.

[mzso]

Marko told Austrian publication Oe24: "I’ve been in contact with him (Newey). He’s not doing well. There are problems with this project that won’t be solved quickly.”

Why won't be solved quickly?

1) Honda need to rebuild a new engine with new MGU-K layout
2) New engine will require new chassis and aero package
3) Chassis and aero package cannot be done without engine information
4) Honda may also need to rebuild their battery as they may be behind other team in ERS

Can Honda produce a world championship capable engine in just 3 to 6 months? I doubt its going to happen.

All of these points are pull out of the air.

[

There have only been two championship winning engines manufacturers in the last decade. Ferrari and Renault could not in 10 years. It took Honda 5 years. Give it time.

Renault was always underfunded and never intended to win. Ferrari got nerfed by the FIA.

It took Honda 6 seasons and 8 years since the announced return to F1 to win. They were still the second best PU manufacturer that season, even if it was by a small margin (as per Japanese sources: https://f1-motorsports-gp.com/honda/hon ... 1h-1014hp/). That championship was won because of Redbull's aero. Had Honda partnered with any other team they would not have won any championships either.

Honda can absolutely repeat the scenario and become competitive with the benchmark set by Mercedes. But not anytime soon. It also doesnt excuse the fact that they have come to the grid with a shambolic PU twice now which is comically noncompetitive.

Can we forget the Ferrari sob-story already? They didn't win because they didn't build good enough cars, and lost years because of engine cheating.

[mzso]

Well. It seems like everyone was wrong. It's worse than even the worst predictions.

Everyone? Many of us viewed the talks about fixes in Japan or Miami with great skepticism. The Spa timeline seems more reasonable for a proper patch to arrive, but even then it may be too early for a real fix. And the big question is what will they be left with when they fix the vibrations? Because what they are working on now is a critical flaw in the engine, not catching up on performance.

Everyone? Lot of us are telling that in every post.
New, Alo, Str, Krack are telling that since the beginning; vibrations are not the problem, Power is.
Nothing till 2027. Mid 26 perhaps Honda brings a New Spec with minor problems but lack of power Will be there.

Well, yes. No-one thought they won't even finish 2+ races...

[Honda Porsche fan]

In order for Honda to make up for their very slow start, they should invest more into Aston Martin F1 financially. Also, try to bring in some large Japanese corporations to sponsor AM.

To speed up the development process will having another team use Honda engines help ?

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains Ltd in Brixworth UK where they make the F1 engines has over 1000+ employees. I wonder how many employees are working on Honda's F1 engine program at Sakura ?

[mzso]

ALO is already a father. Congrats to him and wifey, but no more 130R risky moves this weekend (even if he had the car to do so...)

"Following Fernando Alonso’s audacious 2005 130R overtake on Michael Schumacher, he claimed he knew Schumacher would brake because he was a father of two, saying, "I knew he'd brake, he has a wife and two kids at home. I don't". The move, at 208 mph, highlighted their different stakes"

I was there that day, in the Hairpin, though.

That quote is fake. As is the AI modified video you can hear it in. Just saw a video showing this a few days ago.

[CHT]

I want to see what the team have in place in Miami which should give a clearer picture of the level of disaster Honda and Aston are facing. If it is a diabolical as that report then Stroll should be on the phone to Audi for next year as that is beyond unacceptable. This project will need 2-3 years to recover with Honda if it is that bad. I am hoping that report is complete nonsense and we can see a turn around starting in the next 3 months.

As for Aston Martin’s fortunes and Lawrence Stroll hemorrhaging cash this is a good read here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/neilwinton ... ion-again/

That is a really poorly written article. It conflates AM Lagonda and AM F1 GP. Makes it seems like they're one company but they're not. AM F1 GP is the F1 team. it has the valuation of 3.2 B. It is not hemorrhaging cash. AM Lagonda is the motor car company. It's value is down to back to where it was when Stroll's led consortium investigated in it(between $0.5 to $1 B). AML was in trouble then, it's in trouble now. Think it's trying to say that AM L is selling it's share of AM F1 GP for $146M cause AML needs the cash.

"Aston Martin recently sold its naming rights to the Aston Martin F1 team for £50 million ($67 million)"

”The big question now is will Lawrence Stroll run out of patience and get out after six years at the helm and double down on his F1 team instead.”

Which part of the article make it sound like its the same company?

AML indeed need cash, which is why they sold the naming rights to AM F1 and stop becoming a sponsor.
Which mean AML now getting paid to put their brand on F1 cars.