2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[TyreSlip]

Thank you very much for your answers, Diffuser & TyreSlip. I didn’t understand the reason to switch back to the 'S' because I thought ALO would stick with 'M' until the end. It seemed like the best option to me.

Now I understand everything better. I don’t think ALO is upset about finishing behind Lance. I’m sure he’ll be very happy to see that both of them finally finished the race.

I had thought that after using the 'S' maybe he was disappointed with the performance of the 'M' and they were going for a final push. Or that it was something agreed with the team to compare/check something between him and Lance.

Now the only thing that worries me is what I said before: that tire degradation could get much worse if Honda finds the +50 kW they need. Or that on more demanding circuits for the engine (Hungaroring doesn’t seem like one to me) something similar could happen even if there isn’t such a big power increase.

You are welcome. Honestly, I think there is more to come from improved handling and tyre degradation. Alonso said after qualifying that if that was another practice session, they would have made another big setup change prior to qualifying. Still more to learn about optimising the car.

[TyreSlip]

They are raising the young engineers who are gaining confidence in how to develop the PU with this new sustainable fuel supplier. I won't speak badly about Aramco but the Saudi giant is facing its own challenges. I do know the situation would be different if they were working with ExxonMobil, but we are where we are.

You have claimed often that the Aramco biofuel is inferior to the ExxonMobil one. What is wrong with it and what information do you have to support this?

[diffuser]

People should stop repeating this nonsense. No-one from engine design came from Sakura to the UK.

Yep, those who left the Honda F1 program all went back into other Honda R&D projects in Japan.

The initial reports I read were that some wanted to stay in the sport so took offers from RBPT, also they had a facility in Milton Keynes too, so maybe no one did leave Sakura, but may have stayed in UK from MK.

They had no R&D in Milton Keys. Everything to develop and test PUs was in Sakura. So yeah all the people in Milton Keyes went to RBPT but none of them had access to IP or were R&D Honda.

[diffuser]

I'm was just saying Newey took responsibility for the rear suspension failure and referred the journalists to Honda regarding the ICE vibrations because Honda was handling that issue—not because he was trying to throw Honda under the bus.

Not every one takes the same diction the same way. Again, I said I think he was baited into it by the question.
a phrase that comes off as "you'd have to ask Honda about that" isn't the best way to say "we're working on solving the issues as a team" like Horner always said. He sounded like a broken record, but he kept to it.

One thing that does bother me about the Honda crew is their teamwear. I'm not a fan of how their teamwear creates a distinction of us vs them with the green team and the white team. It may sound silly, but a country like Japan holds the uniform as an important signifier. They should do like they did with RedBull and create a bespoke AMR Honda uniform like they did with Toro Rosso and RedBull. I'm not sure if Honda isn't allowed to use the Aston Martin Aramco logos on their personnel and who's decision it is to not or allow it, but it goes a long way in the mindset of the working team members. I think after some success, we'll see this happen.

See, you're the problem. You're upset that Newey pointed to Honda as being responsible for the vibration. You can take it that way, or you can take it the way I think it was meant.

The vibration is something Honda has taken responsibility for and is working on. They also like being interviewed by the press so journalists can get quotes from Honda personnel, put Honda in a positive light, and show the Honda logo, which is good for advertising.

I mean, there was a vibration, but it wasn't really that bad like it had been before, it didn't interfere with what they had planned to do in the FPs and they fixed it, so I don't see what the big deal is. Newey might have even known they were close to fixing it.