Aston Martin F1 take 'huge step forward' after Honda engine breakthrough

Aston Martin

Aston Martin F1 take 'huge step forward' after Honda engine breakthrough

Aston Martin have solved possibly their biggest issue

Chris Deeley Editor

Experienced sports writer covering F1 and other motorsports since 2023

Sunday 3 May 2026 09:59 Updated: 12:58

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Aston Martin drivers are finally jumping up and down in celebration, rather than going up and down because...well, it's just what their car does to them.

It appears, coming into this weekend's racing at the Miami Grand Prix, that the team's cars no longer vibrate violently.

Six months ago, that would've been an utterly bizarre sentence. Of course F1 cars don't vibrate. They might porpoise a bit, but that's a very different thing – and that got fixed, anyhow.

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But no. Vibrations have, infamously, been the story of Aston Martin's season so far, with the Honda power unit being broadly blamed for the issue, which was so bad early in the season that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll feared permanent nerve damage if they drove more than 25 laps in a row.

Kravitz: Aston have solved vibration problems

It had been widely reported in the build up to this week's Miami Grand Prix that Honda and Aston had used their enforced five-week gap between races well, ridding themselves of the issue and finally allowing them to work on improving performance.

Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz confirmed that he had heard much the same, explaining: “After the Japanese Grand Prix, one of their chassis – I don't know whether it was Stroll's or Alonso's – went with the Honda engine to Honda's test facility with a rolling road and dyno facilities in Sakura in Japan, and it spent two weeks there having all sorts done to it, running hot conditions, vibrations, testing, testing, testing on this dyno, of course, on dynos.

“There's unlimited testing on the dyno. And so they monitored this car and found the problem with the vibrations in Japan. So they've solved the vibration problems.

“It might have looked like Aston Martin have gone backwards, but they have made a huge step forwards, because the vibration issue is pretty much no longer an issue. They're not feeling it through the hands, not feeling it through the feet. That's been the focus. They've solved the vibration issues. It's good vibes at Aston Martin.”

Lawrence Stroll's team have one-upped Audi, Cadillac and Racing Bulls so far this season though, with a 100% finish rate in sprint races. Nico Hulkenberg and Arvid Lindblad have had the worst fortune so far, both retiring in China before each failing to even start on Saturday in Miami.

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