Aston Martin gives Honda’s new F1 engine first public run
NXTbets Pro | Published On: July 30, 2026
Honda power unit
Aston Martin and Honda put the revised Formula 1 power unit on track for the first time during a filming day at the Hungaroring, with Jak Crawford driving the car through the test. The run came after the Hungarian Grand Prix and followed Aston Martin’s post-race work at the circuit, including Pirelli tyre testing before the engine installation. Aston Martin completed a 200-kilometer filming day at the track, giving the new Honda package its first public outing with the team. The test also came on the back of Aston Martin’s Budapest update, where the team introduced a B-spec AMR26 with a 16-part upgrade package. Honda’s revised engine was built to complement that car package, so the Hungaroring run gave both sides an early look at how the two projects fit together on track. The move marked a clear step in Aston Martin’s summer development push, with the team using the day to move from garage preparation to actual running and to put the new hardware through its first laps in company colors.
Aston Martin upgrade
Honda said the new power unit brings an updated combustion chamber, a revised pre-chamber, reduced friction from a revised lubrication system and improved reliability. Those changes sit at the center of the company’s performance target for the project. Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s trackside general manager and chief engineer, said the goal is a reasonably big step in performance rather than a small one. That ambition matches Aston Martin’s approach in Hungary. Mike Krack said the difficult early months strengthened the collaboration between Aston Martin’s Silverstone base and Honda’s Sakura headquarters. The first run at the Hungaroring gave both sides a practical checkpoint after months of work behind the scenes. It also tied into the team’s wider upgrade effort, with the Budapest package and the Honda unit designed to work in tandem. The test gave Aston Martin a fresh look at how the updated engine behaves alongside the new car specification, while Honda got its first trackside read on the revised architecture it brought to the project. The result is a partnership moving from planning and parts delivery into live evaluation, with the engine and chassis programs now linked on track.
Zandvoort race debut
The upgraded Honda power unit is scheduled to make its race debut at the Dutch Grand Prix after the summer break, and Honda planned more running with the new unit at Zandvoort before that point. The Hungaroring outing served as the first stage of that rollout, not the finish line. Adrian Newey said the Hungary update was only the first part of a planned development program, with further steps expected in Zandvoort, Monza and Baku. That leaves Aston Martin with a clear sequence of upgrades to manage across the next phase of the season. The team has already taken the first step in Budapest with the B-spec AMR26 and the 16-part package, and the Honda unit is set to extend that work once race conditions arrive at Zandvoort. Fernando Alonso reaching Q2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix for the first time this season also gave Aston Martin a cleaner weekend result to build on, even as the engine work drew the wider spotlight afterward. With the first on-track run complete, Aston Martin and Honda now move into the next phase of the project with a defined route from testing to race use and a development plan that stretches beyond the opening steps in Hungary.
