{"id":861932,"date":"2026-08-20T11:12:11","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861932\/"},"modified":"2026-08-20T11:12:11","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T11:12:11","slug":"honda-reveals-new-f1-power-unit-target-as-aston-martin-seeks-gains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/861932\/","title":{"rendered":"Honda reveals new F1 power unit target as Aston Martin seeks gains"},"content":{"rendered":"

Honda chief engineer Shintaro Orihara has explained that, while he cannot predict an exact performance gain for its \u2018new spec\u2019 power unit in Zandvoort, it should be enough to help Aston Martin<\/a> improve its lap times.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin brought a significant 16-part chassis update to the Hungaroring last time out, and that will be complemented with what Honda say will be its only major power unit upgrade of the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

Honda expects Aston Martin gains from updated power unit<\/p>\n

Honda tested its new power unit during a filming day with Aston Martin<\/a> before the summer break, and Orihara confirmed \u201cthe power unit works as expected on new chassis\u201d, with both team and engine manufacturer having worked to address early vibration issues.<\/p>\n

Honda was thought to have been the least powerful of the F1 2026 power units as it struggled early in the season, with Aston Martin\u2019s drivers unable to complete early rounds due to significant vibrations running through their hands.<\/p>\n

Orihara began media day at Zandvoort in light-hearted fashion, smiling while holding up a sign saying he can be asked anything bar \u2018how many kilowatts = how much lap time\u2019 gained, but is confident that Honda will bring its own performance gain with it to Zandvoort.<\/p>\n

With both Honda and Aston Martin having delivered in-season updates, Orihara explained that, while difficult to put an exact number on how much this \u2018new spec\u2019 engine<\/a> will bring, the Japanese power unit manufacturer is also remaining pragmatic about what it can achieve this season.<\/p>\n

However, he did admit that all internal targets were achieved with the engine update.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t explain how much gap we can reduce by updating, but in Formula 1, we should be realistic, so we can\u2019t bring that massive update, but we believe we bring some good steps by this update,\u201d he explained to PlanetF1.com and other media in the Netherlands.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we have some gap to complete that, but in Hungary, Aston Martin brings a big update, so we bugged less speed.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery 50 milliseconds or 100 milliseconds is very important to improve our position, and I believe our update can bring that type of improvement on lap times.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen always we improve performance, we face a reliability issue. So, beginning of this development, we found something how to say challenging point for reliability.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took a long time to bring this engine to find the performance, and also to fix the reliability issue, so we have improved our reliability or durability before bringing the engine.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, our reliability, we achieved our internal target for reliability and also performance.\u201d<\/p>\n

More about Honda and Aston Martin<\/p>\n

Newey issues telling Aston Martin and Honda relationship update<\/a><\/p>\n

Honda target hit after Aston Martin 50bhp gain reports addressed<\/a><\/p>\n

Honda\u2019s update arrives with an eye on the future, with wider upgrades available to teams and power unit manufacturers between seasons rather than during the year.<\/p>\n

Orihara emphasised the importance of this update working as expected to ensure Honda is working in the right vein for its future power units.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have the development plan to improve performance for the future,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not saying we\u2019re going to be top competitor immediately, let\u2019s say in Round 1 \u201927, but we\u2019ll bring some big steps.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are trying to bring big steps to \u201927, and then for this event, an important point is this is part of development. So, if we confirm our direction is correct on track, that will give us some confidence our direction is correct.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, it\u2019s quite important for us how this power unit works at Netherlands, not only in the performance side but also reliability side. That will give us some confidence for the direction is good.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, we have some development plans for \u201927 and \u201928, but compared to that target for \u201927, \u201928, our target is to close and complete that step by step.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n

Read next: Dutch GP predictions: Pain for Lawson and Tsunoda, Aston Martin long shot, McLaren upgrade attack<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Honda chief engineer Shintaro Orihara has explained that, while he cannot predict an exact performance gain for its…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":861933,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[2495,64,63,15263,817,813,816,818,914,44,17165,85],"class_list":["post-861932","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-aston-martin","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-dutch-grand-prix","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-home-page","tag-honda","tag-news","tag-popular","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861932","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=861932"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/861932\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/861933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=861932"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=861932"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=861932"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}