Honda F1 reports a positive surprise on its first day of running in Malaysia

Honda F1 had a “positive surprise” on its first day of running at Sepang, Malaysia, after introducing the ADUO 2 engine at Madring, described as the second evolution of 2026. In practice for the Bahrain Grand Prix, exceptionally being held in Malaysia this weekend, Alonso finished 14th in the first session and 15th in the second.

Shintaro Orihara, chief engineer for Aston Martin F1’s engine supplier, highlighted the value of the running: “Today we accumulated as many kilometres as possible, which is especially important given the interesting surface of the track.”

The Malaysian heat nevertheless presents a cooling challenge. Orihara said Honda would work with Aston Martin to address it and would also examine data adjustments for the following day. Energy management was also refined over the two sessions. “We managed to improve on the results we initially achieved in the simulator before arriving here,” he said. He also summed up the progress this way: “We improved the simulator results for Sepeng.”