The Aston Martin Formula 1 team has fallen into a dark hole, in no small part because of Honda.
The AMR26’s Honda engine has been so unreliable that the Silverstone-based outfit failed to carry out its pre-season testing programme, spending more time in the garage than out on track.
Honda is completely unprepared for the Australian Grand Prix, with multiple engine failures in Bahrain jeopardising spare parts supplies, to the extent Aston Martin considered skipping Melbourne by invoking force majeure.
But this would have been a PR disaster for F1 as its new technical era begins, and Aston would have had to pay compensation for breaking the Concorde Agreement’s terms.
The AMR26s will be in Australia, but only intend to make the 107% rule to qualify for the grid and race for a few laps before retiring.
Meanwhile, a crisis unit has been created to support Honda, with team boss Adrian Newey’s staff in touch with the Sakura personnel to address it.
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Rudy Carezzevoli / Getty Images
Honda has admitted that the vibrations from the V6 engine were causing the hybrid system’s battery, which is housed in the chassis, to fail.
Aston’s chief strategy officer Andy Cowell, who led Mercedes’ F1 engine department to multiple world titles, has been sent to Japan, but time is running out to restore basic reliability before even working on performance.
Newey is believed to have sarcastically commented that Honda’s internal combustion engine wasn’t powerful enough to recharge the battery – it reportedly lacks some 80hp in those conditions.
The situation makes it impossible to assess the AMR26’s development and plan for its upgrade schedule.
The disaster is undermining Aston Martin’s image, after billionaire Lawrence Stroll invested heavily in state-of-the-art facilities in Silverstone and key staff hires including team principal and tech chief Newey.
Stroll wants his outfit to fight for the world title, but that dream has vanished, at least for now.
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