After a – to put it mildly – disappointing first half of the season for Aston Martin, engine supplier Honda is aiming for a clear turnaround. Chief engineer Shintaro Orihara hopes that the Japanese manufacturer will be among the absolute top of F1 engine suppliers again by the end of 2027 or early 2028. The first step will be taken in Zandvoort, where Honda is introducing a new ADUO upgrade fully focused on the combustion engine.
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The collaboration with Aston Martin had a difficult start. Honda realized as early as January that the performance and reliability were insufficient. Due to the tight schedule and the fact that the current F1 project differs significantly in staffing from the successful period with Red Bull, the Japanese manufacturer was actually immediately behind the facts. In the coming years, Orihara wants to steadily make up ground.
Closer collaboration with Aston Martin
“For 2027, there are slightly different rules for fuel flow, but our development program remains the same. We still need to further improve our combustion performance,” Orihara explained in an interview with Autosport. “So we continue to focus on improving performance and want to make bigger steps forward in 2027. That is our main focus.” At the same time, Honda wants to intensify the collaboration with Aston Martin to better integrate the power unit into Adrian Newey’s chassis. “We are now focusing on developing a good engine for 2027 and are also working closely behind the scenes with Aston Martin.”
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According to Orihara, Honda does not expect to have the best engine in 2027 yet, but the gap should be significantly smaller. “It is difficult to give an exact timeline in Formula 1,” he admitted. “The factory is working very hard to make a big step forward by 2027, but we have to remain realistic.” Orihara continues: “So I think that early 2027 we may not yet have the very best engine, but we will be closer to the top. And then we will keep working hard to hopefully be one of the most formidable competitors in 2027 or 2028.”
Read everything about the Dutch GP in Zandvoort here
