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Honda only responsible for half of Aston Martin’s F1 pace deficit, fresh report claims
A new report has detailed why Honda is not all to blame for Aston Martin’s current F1 pace deficit.
A new report has claimed that “more than half” of Aston Martin’s deficit to the front of the Formula 1 grid is down to its chassis.
Aston Martin has endured an abysmal start to the 2026 F1 season, with the Adrian Newey-designed AMR26 beset by performance and reliability problems that have plagued the opening three rounds of the campaign.
A switch from a customer Mercedes engine supply to a works partnership with Honda has not started smoothly, with severe vibration issues causing reliability and driver health concerns that preventing the team from completing a race distance in Australia or China.
Aston Martin finally saw the chequered flag in Japan as two-time world champion Fernando Alonso finished a lap down in 18th place, marking some much-needed progress in an otherwise troubled start to the season.
While much of Aston Martin’s woes have been put down to Honda’s new power unit, BBC Sport’s F1 correspondent Andrew Benson has revealed the true extent that the chassis-side is lacking.
“The race report from Suzuka actually mentioned that more than half Aston Martin’s deficit to the front was caused by the chassis,” Benson said in a BBC Sport fan Q&A.
“That information came from a very senior and knowledgeable figure over the course of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend. It also tallies with what other teams are seeing on the GPS data to which all have access, in terms of the cars’ speed on different parts of the track.
“The exact split in terms of the losses that can be attributed to car and engine at Aston Martin-Honda is not known, and it’s probably not possible to know, as of course the behaviour of the engine can also have an impact on the cornering performance of the car.
“It’s worth adding that, while it’s true that much of the public focus has been on the Honda engine, and especially the severe vibrations that have been causing reliability problems, team principal Adrian Newey has been clear that the car is also lacking.”
Aston Martin currently sits rock-bottom of the 2026 constructors’ championship in 11th place, behind F1 newcomers Cadillac. They are the only two teams yet to score points so far this season.
“Aston Martin are about 2.3secs off qualifying in the top 10, with the majority down to the chassis and the rest the engine,” Benson continued.
“In other words, put a Mercedes engine in the car, and it would be about where Alpine or Haas are. Exactly as Newey suggested.
“Given the Aston Martin’s troubled birth – effectively starting again when Newey arrived in March last year, a delayed entry into the wind tunnel until April, and a consequent compressed development programme – that sounds entirely feasible.
“The car is overweight, and is especially poor in high-speed corners.
“The fundamental point, though, is that it doesn’t really matter where exactly the deficit lies between car and engine. Both Aston Martin and Honda are a long way from being competitive, both know that’s the case, and both have a lot of work to do.”
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A new report has detailed why Honda is not all to blame for Aston Martin’s current F1 pace deficit.
A new report has claimed that “more than half” of Aston Martin’s deficit to the front of the Formula 1 grid is down to its chassis.
Aston Martin has endured an abysmal start to the 2026 F1 season, with the Adrian Newey-designed AMR26 beset by performance and reliability problems that have plagued the opening three rounds of the campaign.
A switch from a customer Mercedes engine supply to a works partnership with Honda has not started smoothly, with severe vibration issues causing reliability and driver health concerns that preventing the team from completing a race distance in Australia or China.
Aston Martin finally saw the chequered flag in Japan as two-time world champion Fernando Alonso finished a lap down in 18th place, marking some much-needed progress in an otherwise troubled start to the season.
While much of Aston Martin’s woes have been put down to Honda’s new power unit, BBC Sport’s F1 correspondent Andrew Benson has revealed the true extent that the chassis-side is lacking.
“The race report from Suzuka actually mentioned that more than half Aston Martin’s deficit to the front was caused by the chassis,” Benson said in a BBC Sport fan Q&A.
“That information came from a very senior and knowledgeable figure over the course of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend. It also tallies with what other teams are seeing on the GPS data to which all have access, in terms of the cars’ speed on different parts of the track.
“The exact split in terms of the losses that can be attributed to car and engine at Aston Martin-Honda is not known, and it’s probably not possible to know, as of course the behaviour of the engine can also have an impact on the cornering performance of the car.
“It’s worth adding that, while it’s true that much of the public focus has been on the Honda engine, and especially the severe vibrations that have been causing reliability problems, team principal Adrian Newey has been clear that the car is also lacking.”
Aston Martin currently sits rock-bottom of the 2026 constructors’ championship in 11th place, behind F1 newcomers Cadillac. They are the only two teams yet to score points so far this season.
“Aston Martin are about 2.3secs off qualifying in the top 10, with the majority down to the chassis and the rest the engine,” Benson continued.
“In other words, put a Mercedes engine in the car, and it would be about where Alpine or Haas are. Exactly as Newey suggested.
“Given the Aston Martin’s troubled birth – effectively starting again when Newey arrived in March last year, a delayed entry into the wind tunnel until April, and a consequent compressed development programme – that sounds entirely feasible.
“The car is overweight, and is especially poor in high-speed corners.
“The fundamental point, though, is that it doesn’t really matter where exactly the deficit lies between car and engine. Both Aston Martin and Honda are a long way from being competitive, both know that’s the case, and both have a lot of work to do.”
A new report has claimed that “more than half” of Aston Martin’s deficit to the front of the Formula 1 grid is down to its chassis.
Aston Martin has endured an abysmal start to the 2026 F1 season, with the Adrian Newey-designed AMR26 beset by performance and reliability problems that have plagued the opening three rounds of the campaign.
A switch from a customer Mercedes engine supply to a works partnership with Honda has not started smoothly, with severe vibration issues causing reliability and driver health concerns that preventing the team from completing a race distance in Australia or China.
Aston Martin finally saw the chequered flag in Japan as two-time world champion Fernando Alonso finished a lap down in 18th place, marking some much-needed progress in an otherwise troubled start to the season.
While much of Aston Martin’s woes have been put down to Honda’s new power unit, BBC Sport’s F1 correspondent Andrew Benson has revealed the true extent that the chassis-side is lacking.
“The race report from Suzuka actually mentioned that more than half Aston Martin’s deficit to the front was caused by the chassis,” Benson said in a BBC Sport fan Q&A.
“That information came from a very senior and knowledgeable figure over the course of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend. It also tallies with what other teams are seeing on the GPS data to which all have access, in terms of the cars’ speed on different parts of the track.
“The exact split in terms of the losses that can be attributed to car and engine at Aston Martin-Honda is not known, and it’s probably not possible to know, as of course the behaviour of the engine can also have an impact on the cornering performance of the car.
“It’s worth adding that, while it’s true that much of the public focus has been on the Honda engine, and especially the severe vibrations that have been causing reliability problems, team principal Adrian Newey has been clear that the car is also lacking.”
Aston Martin currently sits rock-bottom of the 2026 constructors’ championship in 11th place, behind F1 newcomers Cadillac. They are the only two teams yet to score points so far this season.
“Aston Martin are about 2.3secs off qualifying in the top 10, with the majority down to the chassis and the rest the engine,” Benson continued.
“In other words, put a Mercedes engine in the car, and it would be about where Alpine or Haas are. Exactly as Newey suggested.
“Given the Aston Martin’s troubled birth – effectively starting again when Newey arrived in March last year, a delayed entry into the wind tunnel until April, and a consequent compressed development programme – that sounds entirely feasible.
“The car is overweight, and is especially poor in high-speed corners.
“The fundamental point, though, is that it doesn’t really matter where exactly the deficit lies between car and engine. Both Aston Martin and Honda are a long way from being competitive, both know that’s the case, and both have a lot of work to do.”
[analyse_source url=”http://crash.net/f1/news/1092894/1/honda-only-responsible-half-aston-martins-f1-pace-deficit-fresh-report-claims”]