Honda announce fresh Aston Martin F1 plans after breakthrough Japanese Grand Prix

Photo: © IMAGO

Aston Martin F1

Honda announce fresh Aston Martin F1 plans after breakthrough Japanese Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso managed to complete a full grand prix distance for the first time in 2026

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 29 March 2026 19:54

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The long road to recovery has begun at last for Honda and Aston Martin, who completed their first F1 grand prix distance at the Japanese Grand Prix on Sunday.

Honda faced the music in front of their home crowd this weekend, with the hope of seeing improvements in their power unit which has featured several issues, the most famous of them all being those bad vibrations.

It is those vibrations which had had prevented drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll completing a full race distance; but finally, the Spaniard managed to see the chequered flag at Suzuka, albeit a lap down to race winner Kimi Antonelli.

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Speaking to F1 after the race, Alonso said: "Today, completing the first race distance, gave the team good information, good data that we need to analyse and improve.

"The pace was not there any session in the weekend and not there in the race either. We need to improve in many areas."

When asked about the feeling in the car in relation to the vibrations, Alonso responded: "It was better. It's still there. It depends day-by-day, track-to-track but today was manageable and allowed me to complete the race."

What happened to Lance Stroll at Japanese Grand Prix?

Unlike his team-mate, Stroll failed to finish at Suzuka and the team asked him to retire the car on lap 31. However, this time, it wasn't the vibrations that caused the DNF, with the team exploring what went wrong with his Aston Martin.

Speaking to F1 after the race, Stroll explained: "I think it's a water pressure issue. We still need to look into it but that's what we think it is right now.

Asked how the car was up until that point, he added: "Not great, but I was having a fun race with Fernando in our own little championship, the Aston Martin championship. I was enjoying the race, even though we were slow. Suzuka is a really nice track to drive so I was just enjoying my laps out there and a shame we couldn't make it to the end."

Honda issue statement after Japanese Grand Prix gains

Honda's general trackside manager and chief engineer, Shintaro Orihara, revealed their plans after the Japanese Grand Prix and was clearly pleased there had been a breakthrough in regards to the vibrations.

He said: "Today in Suzuka we completed the full race distance with Fernando’s car which is a first good step in terms of reliability. In recent weeks, we have been working hard with the team to improve this area. In addition, we’ve been enhancing our engine performance and optimising our energy management strategy.

"We gathered a lot of data today by finishing the race with Fernando, and this gives us more information to help us move forward. We will focus on this over the next four weeks before going to Miami.

"Racing in front of our home crowd with Lance and Fernando was special, and it has been touching to see the banners and messages of support over the Japanese Grand Prix."

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