Honda chief reveals good news for Aston Martin but admits 'very demanding' Spa concerns

Aston Martin can finally see light at the end of a very long F1 tunnel in 2026, but Honda chief Shintaro Orihara admits there will be more pain before a true turnaround begins.

Honda are Aston Martin's power unit provider, but the partnership has got off to a rocky start as the 2026 version so far has been a major cause of issues for the team.

The end result has been the team in green largely been fighting right at the back of the pack, if they've been finishing races at all. Two-time world champion driver Fernando Alonso has picked up just one point from the first nine grand prix weekends.

But there is hope coming the way of the team and their drivers. Design legend Adrian Newey is working on an 'AMR26B' which will be debut at the Hungarian Grand Prix while a new Honda power unit is expected at Zandvoort in August.

Until then, Honda Racing Trackside General Manager and Chief Engineer Orihara has warned that Aston Martin's struggles will continue.

Orihara admitted that the upcoming weekend at Spa may well be one of the worst tracks for their struggling power unit, due to its long, high-speed nature.

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"We have two more races before introducing the new engine," Orihara said in an official statement ahead of Spa.

"It's important to continue learning with this current specification so we can apply what we've learned about energy management in future races, such as Monza, which also features long straights.

"Spa is the longest circuit on the calendar and also one of the most popular. It's a technical circuit, with sections of complex corners. The combination of long straights and high-speed corners makes it a very demanding circuit for the engineers, both in terms of predicting throttle application and managing energy deployment throughout the lap. It will be a test for the manufacturers in terms of energy management, so we need to consider how we're going to use the MGU-K's power on the straights.

"Energy recovery here is quite limited, even considering the length of the circuit. This makes it even more important to get the deployment plan right. The straights also place a demand on the power unit in general, not only in terms of performance but also in terms of reliability.

"Another unknown is the changing weather conditions at the circuit. It didn't rain at Silverstone, so Spa could be the first time we have real rain in a session. As for the weather, anything can happen here."

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