Honda's reliability fixes offer hope, but significant power unit leaps remain unlikely for Alonso's Aston Martin.
Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin have arguably been the biggest disappointments of the 2026 Formula 1 World Championship. The signing of legendary designer Adrian Newey, Lawrence Stroll's massive financial investment, and the arrival of Honda as power unit supplier combined to position the British outfit as one of the leading contenders heading into the new season.
Reality, however, told a very different story. The new Japanese power unit arrived with such severe reliability issues that the team struggled to even complete a full race distance in the opening rounds. The 2026 regulation overhaul was supposed to be the window of opportunity for Alonso to fight for one last title — instead, it delivered the opposite.
Many have already written off Aston Martin's season, but Honda has not abandoned hope. Shintaro Orihara, Honda's Head of Operations in Formula 1, outlined the team's next steps in comments published by Diario AS.
"After the race, we kept one of the AMR26s at the factory to carry out static testing in Sakura for the first time, directing our efforts toward reducing vibrations and improving reliability. We have made some progress, and this will allow us to implement further measures in Miami and throughout the season."
"It has been a long and intense period between races, with intensive collaboration between Honda and Aston Martin in both Japan and the UK. The Japanese Grand Prix showed that the work is heading in the right direction and gives us the motivation to keep pushing," he said.
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Despite those encouraging words, Orihara was candid about the limitations of what has been achieved so far — and the message will make for difficult reading: "Realistically, this progress will not have a visible impact on power unit performance, so we should not expect significant leaps forward here."
"Miami is the first circuit on the 2026 calendar with a significant number of slow-speed corners — it's a unique track featuring two high-speed zones. With that combination, finding the right setup will be critical."
"From a power unit perspective, we will be focused on improving performance through slow corners and optimizing energy management, which will be a key factor. Miami also marks the first genuinely hot race on the calendar, and keeping temperatures under control under these new regulations will be essential," he added.