Honda bullish about update for Aston Martin after F1 summer break

Aston Martin may have been lurking near the back of the grid for most of 2026, but a major powertrain shake-up after the summer break could change everything. Honda Racing chief Shintaro Orihara just dropped an electrifying update about their upcoming engine upgrade.

The Silverstone squad brought 16 chassis upgrades to the Hungarian Grand Prix, with design legend Adrian Newey working tirelessly since the start of the season. For much of this year, Aston Martin has been scrapping with Cadillac on the back two rows, dealing with reliability and performance issues.

But the revised AMR26 showed real progress at the Hungaroring. Lance Stroll finished 13th and Fernando Alonso 14th, with Alonso making it into Q2 for the first time this season. Newey confirmed more chassis updates are coming at the Italian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix later this summer.

Even bigger news, however, is coming from Honda. The Japanese manufacturer has been struggling with their power unit this year, but that’s about to change. Honda will reveal an upgraded engine at the Dutch Grand Prix following the summer break, according to Orihara.

The new power unit was already tested during filming days in Hungary just after the F1 circus left town. It will make its competitive debut at Zandvoort. Honda’s progress is partly due to the FIA’s ADUO scheme, which gives struggling manufacturers extra development time.

Honda has the weakest power unit on the grid and has already received two homologations under the program.

Orihara expressed strong confidence in both the engine and the team’s direction. In Hungary, we saw some pretty strong pace and now we’re back in the mix, he told AS. Any improvement is crucial to catching up with the rival car, and introducing the new engine at Zandvoort is essential.

The chassis is working well, so our engine should give us something to smile about.

With Newey turning up the heat on chassis development and Honda suddenly bullish about their power unit, could Aston Martin finally be ready to climb out of the basement and start fighting for points on a regular basis?