Honda Turns to Positives After Disastrous Start to Aston Martin F1 Partnership

Aston Martin's power unit manufacturer Honda has pointed to the positives in a disastrous start to the 2026 Formula 1 season.

The new partnership was highly anticipated as a new dawn for Aston Martin and a chance to fight for victories after years of investment from owner Lawrence Stroll, including a major recruitment drive and the creation of a state-of-the-art factory in Silverstone.

But the first two months of the 2026 campaign have been anything but exciting for Aston Martin and Honda, with the Japanese manufacturer struggling to meet the mark with the new power unit regulations.

Honda, Aston Martin, Chinese GP 2026 — Honda Racing Corporation

Tough start for Aston Martin

An extraordinary press conference at the Australian Grand Prix saw team principal Adrian Newey concede that the AMR26 may not be able to complete a race distance due to reliability and safety issues — a lack of spare batteries and excessive oscillations from the engine to blame.

And so it was proven true as neither Fernando Alonso nor Lance Stroll completed the first race in Melbourne and the Chinese Grand Prix only repeated that result - the two-time champion retiring through a loss of feeling in his hands due to the vibrations running through the steering wheel.

But there were some positives to take from both weekends as well, with Alonso far from tailed off at the back of the field in qualifying despite concerns over how hard the team would be able to push the power unit.

The car also completed a sprint distance in Shanghai on the Saturday and it is these crumbs of comfort that Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara has pointed to.

“We cannot be satisfied with the double DNF in the Chinese Grand Prix today," said Orihara.

Grid moments. #ChineseGP pic.twitter.com/cW5nLZH2vG
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 15, 2026

"However, if we focus on the more favorable areas, we ran more miles than in Melbourne, which is encouraging. We also increased our reliability throughout the Sprint weekend, but this isn’t yet enough to complete the full race distance.

“We have improved the vibrations on the systems side, but it’s still an issue for driver comfort. This is a key area to address as we look ahead to the next race in Japan.

“As for Lance’s DNF, we are currently investigating the root cause and work will continue with HRC Sakura, together with Aston Martin, to understand what happened on the ninth lap.

“The 2026 regulations are far from simple, as shown by the number of DNFs and DNSs today. We know this isn’t an excuse for our reliability and performance, and we will strive to improve. We have more work ahead of us, and that is our priority right now.”