2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[mzso]

Failing is not a process. It's a lack of one. A result of a defect in their attitudes.They didn't respect the task near enough.

I was going to post a follow-up to my previous post (the second one of mine back on page 343, quoted a couple of posts above), and this has prompted me to get on with it. I think the engineering is fantastic once they get going. However, the management and organisation of the programs are pretty shambolic, at least initially. Pulling out, then kinda pulling out, allowing the engineering team to be dispersed, doing a skeleton team tracking the regs, persuading the company to get a program going, then gradually getting some of the team back, and missing a very large portion of free development time is a pretty crazy way to do things. I think the engineers must be ecstatic they've got a F1 program at all, given the company stance, but these are the consequences. There's no momentum or continuity. Training your best upcoming engineers on the program is fine, if they're working alongside a good number of their seasoned colleagues. Really this is a fight between the bean-counters and the racing arm. There's nothing "samurai" or mystical about shooting, sorry katana-ing, yourself in the foot. The crumb of comfort is that HRC seem to have organised themselves to be a somewhat more recognised and independent division in Honda, I think to help counteract the madness from the top-level management of the company. Of course ultimately if the company really decides to pull out again, HRC would have to comply, but I think they will attempt to run their operations in a bit more of a considered way with this change. At least that's my guess. Not much has been written about this, so ultimately it's anyone's guess if it works or not, or if this conjecture on my part is even accurate.

But remember, Aston still have a works deal, and are not beholden to Mercedes. This is a massive plus point.

On can hope that they will be their at their best from now on, and not get neutered again.

[diffuser]

Everyone is focusing on the ICE and PU as a whole but there are 4 teams that are Mercedes powered and 3 of them are usually not in the running for wins. (Mclaren coming on off late). What people are really not paying attention to is that its a software competition series now as much as hardware. Mercedes and their power management software is what gives them the edge and why other Mercedes powered teams have not been able to match them. So as long as cars are energy starved (why Mercedes only pushes back when this aspect gets threatened by rule changes), they will keep an advantage. Even if AM and Honda can match the hardware performance(raw HP and chassis performance), which is a massive 'IF', there still might some ways to go till they can catch up to the front of the grid.

The other teams are not slow because of the PU.

Obviously Honda's software was weak at the biggening of the year. It's gotten Alot better of late but it's hard to tell when the ICE is still far behind. We'll see after tge summer break how much it's improved.

[makecry]

Everyone is focusing on the ICE and PU as a whole but there are 4 teams that are Mercedes powered and 3 of them are usually not in the running for wins. (Mclaren coming on off late). What people are really not paying attention to is that its a software competition series now as much as hardware. Mercedes and their power management software is what gives them the edge and why other Mercedes powered teams have not been able to match them. So as long as cars are energy starved (why Mercedes only pushes back when this aspect gets threatened by rule changes), they will keep an advantage. Even if AM and Honda can match the hardware performance(raw HP and chassis performance), which is a massive 'IF', there still might some ways to go till they can catch up to the front of the grid.

The other teams are not slow because of the PU.

Obviously Honda's software was weak at the biggening of the year. It's gotten Alot better of late but it's hard to tell when the ICE is still far behind. We'll see after tge summer break how much it's improved.

Yes, you can actually see the AMR26's gap to fastest team peak and then very slowly start to come down as they get hang of their software/deployment etc. I hope the upgrade gets them 30bhp or so which I guess would translate to 0.5s in lap time? More power = higher downforce = better wear. If they get to racing bulls next race, I expect them to finish the season ahead of midfield.

[Otromundo]

The other teams are not slow because of the PU.

Obviously Honda's software was weak at the biggening of the year. It's gotten Alot better of late but it's hard to tell when the ICE is still far behind. We'll see after tge summer break how much it's improved.

Yes, you can actually see the AMR26's gap to fastest team peak and then very slowly start to come down as they get hang of their software/deployment etc. I hope the upgrade gets them 30bhp or so which I guess would translate to 0.5s in lap time? More power = higher downforce = better wear. If they get to racing bulls next race, I expect them to finish the season ahead of midfield.

Yes, I agree. Those +/-30 HP/CV seem achievable in 2 races if the base of the new engine is good. I also don’t want sudden power jumps that could cause damage. Better to focus on reliability; we’ve already lost too much time this season. 

I also agree that with that we could comfortably fight with the top of the midfield teams. It would be wonderful to end the season on a high note.

Occasionally, especially if accidents or weather events happen, we might make it into the top 10. I don’t think we can aim for more. But after how rough this season has been ... it would be a delight if it happens.

Everything indicates that our season will be next year. We’ll have to wait, but it’s not bad to witness the car’s transformation in the meantime. Just a month ago, I would have considered it almost impossible.

[ispano6]

Posts like the one a couple of posts above are why Honda fans who've come to Aston Martin Honda, are touchy about things that Aston Martin fans who've come to Aston Martin Honda (yes, this is a new partnership), say. There's quite an undercurrent of when the car goes well, it's because of the great chassis in spite of terrible Honda, and when it goes badly, it's because terrible Honda are so bad all is lost. It's even been said no chassis development could realistically be done whilst the engine was so bad (so how about all the current updates?). Of course the engine is very poor, and yes it is a concern because engine development and lead-times are long (and updates can only be made when permission is granted). But, the chassis was very poor too, the drivers have been complaining, and the team even said approximately half the deficit comes from the chassis, but these facts are glossed over or often not even mentioned at all. The team has a works engine deal, with the company that powered four drivers championships, which were the only ones the Mercedes didn't win in the turbo hybrid engine era. Nothing is ever guaranteed, but don't underestimate Honda. How about wishing them well, and seeing how it goes?

These people are impatient and don't appreciate the process Honda goes through to achieve success, which usually starts with failure. Hence why I no longer translate or bring new information. I'm looking forward to a talk by former Honda Managing Director Masashi Yamamoto, who was the Honda consultant for RBPT, on the latest Honda F1 developments. He is going to have some interesting things to say, always does.

Failing is not a process. It's a lack of one. A result of a defect in their attitudes.They didn't respect the task near enough.

Honda wasn't planning to come back. Stroll and Aston Martin convinced them to after they had already dispersed their members. Get your facts straight.

[ispano6]

Quotes from Orihara:

“In Hungary, we saw quite a strong pace, and now we’re back in contention. Any improvement is crucial to catching the rival car, and introducing the new engine at Zandvoort is fundamental.

“The chassis is working well, so our engine should give us reason to smile. It’s a good opportunity to test the new power unit in the new chassis”

When talking about why Fernando Alonso faced issues with the car earlier in the weekend, Orihara explained that “the engine temperature is not optimized in the new chassis. We adjusted some parameters and have made considerable progress.”

Proof that the chassis cooling change is what caused the abnormal operations of the power unit. And people assumed it was the same issue as the beginning of the year.

“It’s the baseline on which to build… We’ll gain lap time, that’s for sure… We can quantify what we need the improvements to give us.”

Like I said, they know the power figures on the dyno and what they should achieve in terms of laptime from those figures. Whether or not they can extract/realize that potential and how long it will take to unlock remains to be seen. Let's see how the gearbox and suspension hold up.

https://www.f1oversteer.com/news/honda- ... n-hungary/

[ispano6]

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?

Honda F1 website posted pre-season that they were having a matching problem with their new fuel supplier and lubricant supplier. They later called their combustion immature. Honda had an excellent working partnership with ExxonMobil and it was thanks to Kotaro Hashimoto who formulated the winning blends, who now is Chief Engineer heading Honda's Innovative Research Excellence Power Unit & Energy. It is not a coincidence that RBPT have top combustion performance as they are using ExxonMobil's expertise, that which they amassed through their partnership with Honda. Now Aramco is the new partner that Honda is working with. Synergy is everything.

Aramco is a debutante to F1 fuel and fuel quality and molecular behavior is utmost important in this new era.
Prior to this year Aramco had only been supplying F2 and F3 fuel. An engine's combustion is only as good as the fuel it combusts and how it combusts. I've been translating Honda articles for many years here, 300 upvotes worth of content (those votes magically erased because it wasn't in the "technical" part of the forum) that referred to Honda's publications about their fuel development for ExxonMobil, the personnel involved and credited for having made breakthroughs for the F1 team. I've been following information and the sources who are back at Honda doing what they did during the RedBull era. The engineer(s) who improved Honda's fuel for ExxonMobil and changed the shape of the combustion are thankfully hard at it at Honda guiding the next generation engineers.

[3_12_14_16_22_33_81]

I'm hoping the new PU has a more aggressive sound like the Audi PU. I attended Suzuka this year and the AMR26 was by far the quietest car. Perhaps that was due to being limited due to the vibrations. Did anyone attend Hungaroring?

[zoroastar]

https://x.com/Nachez98/status/207919938 ... t%3Asrcdoc

franco nugnes keeps saying honda engineers behind the scenes are expecting 50 hp. he writes for autosport for what its worth.

[makecry]

https://x.com/Nachez98/status/207919938 ... t%3Asrcdoc

franco nugnes keeps saying honda engineers behind the scenes are expecting 50 hp. he writes for autosport for what its worth.

Cautious optimism. Scenes if Q3. I see 33 coming some day for sure then.

[peewon]

The other teams are not slow because of the PU.

Of course not. They have the same PU. But the telemetry shows that they dont have the same level of energy recovery and deployment though. Mclaren is nowhere near Mercedes on power hungry tracks like Spa but competitive in places like Hungary.

[Waz]

https://x.com/Nachez98/status/207919938 ... t%3Asrcdoc

franco nugnes keeps saying honda engineers behind the scenes are expecting 50 hp. he writes for autosport for what its worth.

Looking at the success of the aero update, this suddenly seems quite possible. It won't just be updated parts, but being able to run the engine at full power finally.

It's going to be very intriguing for sure in the next few races.

One of the best features of the update is the silence from the braying Newey haters, trotting out the single failed car in his career in every comment section of every social media post about AM.

[mzso]

These people are impatient and don't appreciate the process Honda goes through to achieve success, which usually starts with failure. Hence why I no longer translate or bring new information. I'm looking forward to a talk by former Honda Managing Director Masashi Yamamoto, who was the Honda consultant for RBPT, on the latest Honda F1 developments. He is going to have some interesting things to say, always does.

Failing is not a process. It's a lack of one. A result of a defect in their attitudes.They didn't respect the task near enough.

Honda wasn't planning to come back. Stroll and Aston Martin convinced them to after they had already dispersed their members. Get your facts straight.

That's your narrative. While we know that Honda changed their minds, and had to find a new team because Red Bull already invested into their own PU program. In any way that bit of delay doesn't excuse their disorganization and lack of effort put into the new PU.

Proof that the chassis cooling change is what caused the abnormal operations of the power unit. And people assumed it was the same issue as the beginning of the year.

In no way is that proof of anything. But it does suggest the chassis was designed for the new PU.

[Badger]

https://x.com/Nachez98/status/207919938 ... t%3Asrcdoc

franco nugnes keeps saying honda engineers behind the scenes are expecting 50 hp. he writes for autosport for what its worth.

Nugnes is pure clickbait, wouldn't trust a word.

Let's be real, where would 50 HP come from? Did Honda's engineers suddenly figure out all of their issues and make them right in 6 months after having not realised for years before? I would temper my expectations, engines have long lead times and there's only so much you can do in 6 months. Improvement? Yes. Revolution? No.

[Farnborough]

https://x.com/Nachez98/status/207919938 ... t%3Asrcdoc

franco nugnes keeps saying honda engineers behind the scenes are expecting 50 hp. he writes for autosport for what its worth.

Nugnes is pure clickbait, wouldn't trust a word.

Let's be real, where would 50 HP come from? Did Honda's engineers suddenly figure out all of their issues and make them right in 6 months after having not realised for years before? I would temper my expectations, engines have long lead times and there's only so much you can do in 6 months. Improvement? Yes. Revolution? No.

The answer would be in the question "how did Honda go from contemporary established that was was very competitive in last rules set, to loosing so much ground in combustion theory/practice for this next set of rules, in place now ? "

Clearly they knew (evidence based) what to do before, but failed in carrying that to the development of a similar design (with lower specific output, but more fuel quantity limited) for this era.

There is valid store in Ispano6 view about Aramco contribution that I believe in part for these reason. Fuels for another formula (often stated in here as valid) have no real bearing on the specifics of detailed fuel for these fuel starved and almost diesel like combustion design that are part of this (and previous rules ) PU architecture.

The "fingerprint" of fuels used, held by the fuel companies for last era rules set, have a huge influence in formulation. That's missing from Aramco product it appears currently, from "polite" information coming from Honda engineers.

Like noted above, that will take time and extensive experience to resolve. One key to that is the minds previously used by Honda to tutor the current development team. That can give a big jump IF they fully recognised the existing short coming that has limited their combustion advance so far in PU running in first half of 2026.

The proof though, we'll have to wait until NL to find out. Speculation in this is highly unreliable, unless specific information from verified sources are available.