It was only twelve months ago that Honda powered Red Bull and Max Verstappen to victory on home soil. Of course, their expectations are very difficult heading into this weekend’s Japanese GP.
Honda are battling a variety of issues to start the 2026 regulations. Not only is reliability a significant problem, but performance is also nowhere near the required level.
Both the ICE [Internal Combustion Engine] and battery system are in need of improvement. Addressing these areas will be the Japanese manufacturer’s focus over the coming months, as they work to overturn their poor start.
Unfortunately for Honda and Aston Martin, solving these issues will take some time – especially since they are still diagnosing the root problem.
Honda admit there is a long road to recovery
On paper, Honda were well equipped to produce a strong power unit for these 2026 regulations. Their established infrastructure, seasoned workforce and track record convinced Aston Martin to leave Mercedes engines and switch to Honda.
Aston Martin were hopeful this deal could give them the advantage that all manufacturer teams enjoy – having full control over all aspects of development.
With this in mind, Adrian Newey is understood to have made very specific requests of Honda upon arriving at the team last April. Newey communicated these preferences in an effort to ensure his design concept would be accommodated by Honda’s power unit.
As a customer team, making such a request would not have been possible. Therefore, Aston Martin would have had to make compromises and work around the engine provided to them.
With that said, this supposed benefit has not generated any rewards. Instead, there are even suspicions that the AMR26’s radical packaging (made possible after relatively last-minute requests to Honda) are compromising the Honda engine.
For the time being, several theories are circulating to make sense of the situation – specifically regarding the power unit’s extreme vibrations.
The solutions introduced so far, both in Australia and China, have proven ineffective. Fernando Alonso suggested in China that the fixes currently being introduced are only disguising the real limitation.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Japanese GP, Honda Chief Engineer Shintaro Orihara admitted investigations are still ongoing:
“In China, we made some progress in terms of battery reliability thanks to a reduction in the vibration affecting the systems.
“But we must find more solutions to establish the cause of the vibrations affecting the drivers.
“We have also focused our efforts in the gap between China and Japan to continue to improve our reliability. But still our performance is not where we want it to be, especially regarding energy management.
“Suzuka Circuit is a tough track for this, so we have been using the learnings from Australia and China to prepare better for the Japanese Grand Prix.
“We are not at the level where we wanted to be going into this weekend. But we will keep working hard to maximise our package.
“We are looking forward to seeing the home crowd and the Honda fans. I want them to see that we have made some progress since Bahrain.”
Damage limitation
Perhaps this uncertainty is the most concerning development for Honda and Aston Martin. Experiencing an issue is one thing, but not understanding the fundamental problem is quite another.
After all, whilst Honda probably did not expect to produce a better engine than Mercedes, they certainly anticipated a better start than both Audi and Red Bull Powertrains – two entirely new manufacturers.
Of course, Adrian Newey revealed in Australia that many of Honda’s experienced engineers have since departed the team. The 67-year-old revealed his surprise when the bulk of the title-winning engineers had been reassigned to other divisions.
Still, whist this offers some context, it does not serve as a full explanation for the Japanese brand’s current predicament.
Even if Honda were anticipating some obstacles, their catastrophic start to 2026 is clearly a surprise. The fact they are still trying to diagnose their power unit’s main problem seems evidence enough they are in unknown territory.
What isn’t unknown, however, is that the next few months could be painful for Aston Martin. Only time will tell how quickly – if at all – upgrades can help overturn the gap.