Honda CEO Shintaro Orihara sees reason for optimism after the three disappointing Grands Prix for customer team Aston Martin. According to the Japanese, the engine supplier has certainly ‘made progress’ in solving the persistent problems with the AMR26 – including the severe vibrations. However, it will take some time before this is noticeable in the results: ‘We should not expect big leaps forward’.
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Expectations were high for Aston Martin and Honda prior to the 2026 season, but so far the year has been very disappointing for the British racing team. In three Grands Prix, Aston Martin was only able to finish a race once with Fernando Alonso behind the wheel. The Spaniard then finished eighteenth during the Japanese GP.
One of the biggest problems with the AMR26 is the severe vibrations, which caused Alonso to ‘no longer feel his hands’ after 25 minutes. After the Japanese GP, engine supplier Honda therefore decided to examine a car. “It has been a long but intense period between races, during which we have worked hard in cooperation with Aston Martin in both Japan and the United Kingdom,” Honda CEO Shintaro Orihara told various media. “The Japanese GP has shown that we are on the right track and has given us the motivation to continue.”
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‘No big leap forward’
“After that race, we took the opportunity for the first time to keep one of the AMR26 cars on site for further static tests in Sakura, focusing on reducing vibrations and thus increasing reliability,” continues the CEO, who sees reason for optimism. “We have made some progress, which will allow us to implement further improvements in Miami and later in the season. Realistically, this progress will not have a noticeable effect on the performance of the power unit on the track, so we should not expect big leaps forward here.”
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