Honda disputes Fernando Alonso’s assessment after Baku problems

Honda does not share Fernando Alonso’s assessment after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Baku’s long straights severely undermined Aston Martin, Honda and the Spanish driver’s hopes in a particularly gloomy weekend for the team.

Alonso completed only 22 laps and voiced his frustration over the radio: “1.1 seconds on the straight. How is that possible?” The two-time world champion then referred to “something abnormal”. Aston Martin’s biggest doubts stem specifically from his race difficulties, while the Japanese engine has again raised questions despite recent upgrades.

Honda is nevertheless rejecting its driver’s theory at this stage. Its initial assessment does not match Alonso’s evaluation, although further checks are planned. Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s trackside manager, said: “According to the data we have now, and after checking everything, the engine looks fine to us. But we must check everything in the maintenance work and in the factory data. We do not see any problems.”

The checks will notably have to explore the effects of slipstreaming and the overtaking mode in the battle against Bottas. “We need to monitor the power, energy management and perhaps the GPS,” Orihara listed.

Beyond the Baku incident, the engine remains a long way off in comparisons with the competition. Orihara recalled: “We brought the second specification, but there is a difference between Mercedes, Honda and the rest. It comes from the power itself, and that is what we are working on for next season.” Aston Martin must also avoid incidents such as the oil leak that cut short Alonso’s practice day.

The next stop will be Malaysia: Sepang will host the 2026 Bahrain Grand Prix, before Singapore, which will use the sprint format. Mike Krack, the British team’s chief trackside engineer, believes those events could better suit Aston Martin: “It should be better. There are straights, but also high-downforce and low-speed corners. We will be more competitive and another step will come in Singapore. We do not know where, but we also knew Baku was among the difficult Grands Prix, along with Monza.”

The weather forecast calls for rain on every day of action in Malaysia. The circuit nonetheless represents a challenge that could better suit the AMR26. “It is a completely different circuit in terms of aerodynamic load, power, drag and centre of gravity. These are important things for the overall car and it will be very hot. We have not been there for many years, we need to learn the circuit... There are many things to check,” Krack added.

One of the questions will be whether the latest upgrades have delivered the most necessary step. It was stated: “The weight reduction is at the rear. It took us a long time to reach the limit; we are now close to it and we need to keep working on it because we will not make any more parts and, if you have to repair components, you make them heavier.” The door remains open to another upgrade: “They will be things we see in the wind tunnel; here we had small tweaks.”

According to the reported assessment, Williams have improved and Aston Martin appear much slower, although the two teams may perhaps be in a similar area. Their exact position in the standings remains uncertain. While attention is already turning towards 2027, the current season still offers Alonso a few opportunities to regain momentum. The power-unit problems still have no explanation, but the green team believes another step could be made in Malaysia and Singapore.