Is Honda really at fault? Adrian Newey could be the real problem at Aston Martin

The past week has been an unwelcome throwback to the 'GP2 engine' years with Honda for Fernando Alonso. But does Adrian Newey's design also have a role to play in Aston Martin's woes?

For those not up to speed with Bahrain testing, Aston Martin's final week was a disturbing sign for the season to come, with their Honda engine suffering a battery issue on Thursday, that then forced them into a limited run plan on Friday. The consequence? Only six laps in the AMR26 and an early exit as their rivals continued to rack up mileage.

Naturally, given all the brouhaha around Honda's underperforming engine, the Japanese manufacturer have been placed under increased scrutiny, especially as the deadline looms for the 2026 power unit homologation.

On March 1, all five power unit manufacturers must submit homologation dossiers for their new designs to the FIA, who will approve compliant designs within 14 days of submission.

What this essentially means for Aston Martin and Honda is that once their dossier is submitted it will be incredibly difficult to make any changes or upgrades without approval. So, the boffins at Sakura have just under a week to fix any issues with their power unit before they're locked in.

This pressure has shifted a little of the focus away from Newey, but his design can't be absolved of blame either.

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Aston Martin design suffocating Honda engine

Back during the inaugural test in Bahrain, on day one, Aston Martin's problems lay in the Honda power unit and its inefficient engine cooling.

Additional vents were then opened up and several more gills were added to the sidepods to help with heat dissipation, but at the cost of aerodynamic efficiency. But, rather than just being a quirk of the Honda PU, it was a consequence of the restrictive bodywork of the AMR26.

Newey's compact aerodynamic concept and the tightly spaced sidepods were restricting the power unit, which means that it was struggling to breathe and therefore unable to cool sufficiently. Overheating can then cause engine failure or damage to surrounding parts.

If you look at Aston Martin's rivals, none have adopted the bulging bodywork that can be seen on Newey's design. While at the Barcelona shakedown it looked to be innovative, the reality of representative and hotter conditions in Bahrain exposed the design's issues in relation to the power unit.

To prevent this, the design and the engine has to be conceived of as a marriage of concepts, one cannot work if it doesn't compliment the other.

An example elsewhere on the F1 grid is, yes, Mercedes could build a monster engine for 2026, but this doesn't necessarily mean McLaren, Alpine and Williams will also be fast. One of the differentiators could be whether the customer teams are able to design a car that also works in harmony with and doesn't restrict the performance of the PU.

The same applies for Aston Martin, only the disconnect between design and engine has cost them crucial mileage on the eve of the season, and they will be playing catch up their rivals for the foreseeable. While Honda is currently the lead suspect in Aston Martin's misery, you can't escape the fact that something hasn't clicked with the design either.

As both bases in Silverstone and Sakura work towards a solution before Melbourne, it must be done together, not in isolation. The Aston Martin performance puzzle is no longer one Newey can solve on his own.

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