Aston Martin are in the middle of a nightmare heading into the home Formula 1 event of their engine supplier Honda in Japan with Adrian Newey’s status as team principal also coming under the spotlight.
Neither Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are yet to see the chequered flag at the opening two Grands Prix, while Aston Martin are battling newcomers Cadillac to not be slowest in Qualifying.
Co-owner Lawrence Stroll “set the record straight” last Friday after reports swirled about now former Audi boss Jonathan Wheatley replacing Newey as team principal, so the latter could focus on car matters.
“We do things differently here, and while we don’t currently adopt the traditional team principal role that you see elsewhere – it is by design,” said Stroll.
“As the most successful engineer in the history of the sport, Adrian’s primary focus is on the strategic and technical leadership where he excels.
“He is supported by a highly skilled senior leadership team to deliver on all aspects of the business, both at the campus and trackside.
“We are regularly approached by senior executives of other teams who wish to join Aston Martin Aramco, but in keeping with our policy, we do not comment on rumour and speculation.”
Jonathan Wheatley could replace Adrian Newey as team principal, so the legendary designer can prioritise the car’s development
Vibrations the main problem at Aston Martin
There are plenty of rumbles off the track and unfortunately they are, quite literally, the main issue on the track as vibrations from the Honda power unit.
F1’s power unit regulations have changed completely for 2026 leading to more unreliability, something Aston Martin are yet to get on top of.
The car effectively shook itself to a halt during pre-season testing and Honda have been limited on batteries, therefore limiting the amount of mileage the drivers can do.
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A red flag was issued during day two of the Bahrain Test after Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin stopped on the track
In fact, the vibrations have been that strong that Newey warned of “permanent nerve damage” to Aston Martin’s drivers ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.
At the last race in China, Alonso was seen taking his hands off the steering wheel on the straight, seemingly due to discomfort from the vibrations, before he retired after 32 laps.
“We found more vibrations than any other sessions in the weekend. Physically I could not continue much longer,” he said.
“I lost the feeling in my hands and feet. It was not a nice feeling.”
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Adrian Newey breaks down how the vibration and battery issues are impacting Aston Martin
Honda have been testing engines at their Japan base in Sakura on the dyno to understand where the vibrations are coming from.
“We have improved the vibrations on the systems side, but it’s still an issue for driver comfort,” said Honda’s trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara.
“This is a key area to address as we look ahead to the next race in Japan.”
Sky Sports understands Alonso will miss Thursday’s Japanese GP media day due to the birth of his first child, with Jak Crawford already stepping in ahead for Friday’s first practice session.
Aston Martin said in a statement: “Fernando is arriving slightly later this weekend for personal family reasons and won’t be attending media day at the Japanese Grand Prix. All is well and he will be at the track in time for Friday.”
How long will it take Aston Martin to fix issues?
Honda are hampered by only having one team that use their engines whereas other power unit manufacturers Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull-Ford have at least two teams to gather data and learn about their power units.
It is an advantage to be a sole engine supplier when things are going well – since the team building the chassis can build their car around the power unit, with no need to think about other teams.
However, when an engine manufacturer is struggling, having just one team makes it significantly more difficult to catch up – as Honda know when they joined forces with McLaren in 2015. Although there were improvements, McLaren and Honda split after three seasons together at the end of 2017, and it was only in 2019 when Honda became Red Bull’s engine supplier that winning results started to come.
Max Verstappen won Honda’s first race of the turbo-hybrid era at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix
“We still have too many issues and too many unknown issues that are coming day after day from nowhere,” said Alonso, who drove for McLaren during their years with Honda.
“It seems that we are not on top of the problems yet and that’s why it’s difficult to guess [when Aston Martin will have a normal weekend].
“But we are pushing, we have very high professionals and talented people in the team, so I hope by a couple of Grands Prix we can have a normal weekend, well, at least in terms of doing laps and completing the sessions.
“Then to be competitive, I think that will take more time, to be honest, because once we fix the reliability then we will be behind in terms of power and things, so there are two steps, let’s say, and hopefully the first step will come soon.”
Aston Martin’s expectations have gone from challenging at the front to finishing races
One way Honda can catch up is through the three periods of Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) during the season.
Teams judged to be at least two per cent behind the manufacturer with the best-performing internal combustion engine awarded development opportunities. The first ADUO is due to be after the sixth round of the season in Monaco in June, although this may change following the cancellations of April’s Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix.
But, Sky Sports F1’s David Croft pointed out the F1 budget cap means it is not straightforward for Honda to resolve such serve problems.
“If you have the MGU-K which is bolted to the chassis which is vibrating so much and causing the chassis to vibrate, which transfers to the power unit – that needs a redesign of the power unit,” said Croft.
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Despite clear problems with the car, Fernando Alonso is confident Aston Martin will resolve their difficulties and improve
“If you are going to redesign the power unit, that needs a b-spec car. I think halfway through the season, maybe Silverstone [in July], we see a b-spec car.
“Until then, they need to find a fix if they can. Every time you try to fix reliability issues, you are not concentrating on performance. This is a major worry for Aston Martin and awful for every single person associated with that team from the top to the bottom. I don’t see how it fixes itself quickly.
“Andy Cowell is the engine guru and should be spending most of his time in Japan trying to help Honda get it altogether but there’s a cost cap, so you can’t totally spend your way out of this.”
How frustrated is Alonso? Will he retire at end of 2026?
Such were expectations at Aston Martin before a wheel had been turned in 2026, Alonso’s odds by bookmakers shortened dramatically over the winter as hopes of a third world championship and being in a title fight for the first time in 14 years increased with the prospect of Newey and Honda.
A new factory and state-of-the-art wind tunnel at Aston Martin’s Silverstone base showed Lawrence Stroll was serious about getting his team to the front of the grid.
However, it soon became clear that Aston Martin were in a battle just to make it to the start line in Australia, rather than contend for victories like some hoped.
Fernando Alonso’s contract at Aston Martin expires at the end of this year
Alonso has been at Aston Martin since 2023 and enjoyed a successful first year with the team, scoring six podiums in the opening eight races, albeit was unable to end his winless streak which stretches back to May 2013.
The last two years have been about building up for 2026 but the disastrous start to the Aston Martin-Honda era has left Alonso in a hard mental place” according to Newey.
Alonso said: “We all want to win. We are 22 drivers this year. One will win, 21 will be in a difficult and tough mental state, because for me to finish third or fifth or 17th, it really doesn’t matter much.
“I was lucky enough and privileged enough to live different eras n Formula 1 and to have fun driving, and eventually super lucky to have competitive cars for half of my career and achieving more than 100 podiums in the category.
“So now to finish, as I said, in any other position that is not first, for me it’s the same pain and the same struggle. Obviously, we are now in this journey with the team, which is not the ideal start, but it’s the first year of this collaboration between Aston Martin and Honda and we have to go through this moment in time, and I’m ready to help as much as I can.”
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Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso react to Adrian Newey’s fears that Aston Martin’s vibration issues could cause ‘permanent nerve damage’
Alonso’s contract at Aston Martin expires at the end of this year and he turns 45 years old in the summer. The Spaniard has previously said the performance of the 2026 car will be “very important” when it comes to deciding when to retire from F1.
He said last season: “I think I need to see how next year starts and how motivated I am. Every year, there is a different mood into the season.
“There is a different feeling on how you perform, how competitive you feel yourself, how motivated you are to keep your fitness at the high level, personal situation, family situation – all these things play a role in some important decisions in life.”
What’s realistic for Aston Martin in 2026?
Aston Martin could be the biggest beneficiary of the cancelled Bahrain and Saudi Arabian Grands Prix as there is now a five-week gap between this weekend’s Japanese Grand Prix and the next race in Miami on May 1-3.
Another planned three-week break follows Miami, so Honda have plenty of time to at least get both cars to be able to finish Grands Prix.
Aston Martin have been running their engine at lower rpm to limit the vibrations, so the first aim is to allow the drivers to run their engine at a higher power. Should they get on top of this, there will be an immediate jump in performance.
Aston Martin will be hoping to see the chequered flag in Suzuka
Neither Stroll or Alonso have escaped the first part of Qualifying so far and were one second off reaching Q2 in China – a sizeable gap in F1.
The aim by halfway through the season must be to at least get one car into Q2, then maybe Aston Martin can target points towards the end of the year.
Newey said: “Being realistic, this season is first of all, as I mentioned, getting on top of this vibration problem so we can run reliably, and from there to see how much performance they can add to the combustion engine in particular.
“Then at the same time, of course, Honda needs to start working on the ’27 engine because it’s clear that a very large step in combustion engine power is needed for ’27, and that has to be their sole focus.”
Formula 1 heads to the iconic Suzuka Circuit for the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW – no contract, cancel anytime.
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