Aston Martin F1 time boost from new Honda upgrade revealed

Aston Martin

Aston Martin F1 time boost from new Honda upgrade revealed

Aston Martin brought their first F1 upgrades in Hungary, now it's Honda's time to shine

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Tuesday 28 July 2026 20:55

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Aston Martin and their F1 team principal Adrian Newey proved to the entire paddock at last weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix that they are capable of delivering impressive performance upgrades.

The squad owned by Lawrence Stroll have been flailing at the back of the grid for most of the first half of this year's championship, at times exposing that they were even slower than the brand new Cadillac team.

Their struggle was evident as early as pre-season testing, when Newey's chassis was described as overweight and the issues with new power unit provider Honda became painfully clear.

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Four months down the line however and Aston Martin finally brought a massive development package to Hungary that consisted of 16 upgrades, meeting their goal of improving by roughly two seconds per lap thanks to the aerodynamic improvements and weight-saving changes brought by legendary designer Newey.

What's more is that Lance Stroll hasn't used the words ' just electrocute yourself' to describe the pain coming from Honda's power unit since the season opener, with the PU provider set to be tested as the impact of their upgrade remains to be seen.

Aston Martin set to receive Honda boost which could decide Alonso future

Whilst many teams and drivers have wasted no time kicking off their summer break, Aston Martin will get back out on track at the Hungaroring on Wednesday for a filming day where they will be using their new Honda engine.

Ahead of the filming day, it has been revealed that a time improvement of 0.5 seconds / a 50bhp boost is to be expected from the new power unit, though as two-time champion Fernando Alonso knows all too well, Honda should be cautious not to celebrate prematurely.

In a Q&A after the Hungarian Grand Prix, BBC Sport F1 correspondent Andrew Benson shared an update on the progress Aston Martin are expecting to make out on track once their AMR26's have been fitted with the new and hopefully much improved Honda engine.

"The Honda is a long way behind the other power units - something in the region of of about 1.5 seconds per lap off the best, Aston Martin believe internally," Benson revealed.

"The impending upgrade will not narrow that gap completely. But it is hoped that it will narrow about a third of it."

Alonso is currently considering whether to commit to further seasons with Aston Martin in F1 or retire from the championship for good to race in something that pleases him more than these new regulations do.

As the three-week summer break commences and Alonso's contract continues to count down, it has been reported that the Spaniard plans to wait and see how the Honda upgrade performs before settling on a decision regarding his future.

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