Honda, Aston Martin scramble to fix Sakura V6 vibrations

Excessive vibrations from Honda’s new Sakura V6 repeatedly damaged Aston Martin’s battery system during pre‑season running, forcing Honda to stop on‑track work and severely curtailing the team’s testing program. HRC head Ikuo Takeishi said the battery looked as if it had been ‘shaken’ inside the monocoque, and Honda described the vibrations as ‘dangerous’ and ‘extremely challenging.’ Repeated battery‑system failures prompted Honda to halt running, and a shortage of spare parts meant Aston Martin completed just six install laps on the final day of Bahrain testing.

Honda has identified excessive combustion‑engine vibrations from the Sakura V6 as the source of the damage but has not found a single root cause, saying the problem appears multifactorial. Engineers at HRC are running bench tests and using simulations at the Sakura facility and a virtual test rig to reproduce the issue, while developing both chassis and power‑unit countermeasures to reduce vibration. Honda and Aston Martin are assessing fixes under a tight timeline ahead of the season opener in Australia and the engine homologation deadline on March 1; HRC says it is collaborating with Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll and technical director Adrian Newey, and Honda aims to have the package competitive by the Japanese GP at Suzuka.

The disruption left Aston Martin with sharply limited preseason mileage: across three pre‑season tests the AMR26 completed about 400 laps in total, including 128 laps over three days in Bahrain and 2,115 km of running overall — roughly a third of the distance some rivals logged, while many teams recorded more than 300 laps and several exceeded 400. The shortfall was compounded by the AMR26’s late delivery, a shortage of spare parts and a complex integration program that included a new in‑house gearbox, new electronics and suspension. Tetsushi Tsunoda, head of power‑unit development at HRC, described the situation as a ‘double handicap,’ citing late supplier signings and prior regulatory limits on early investment; Honda drew a parallel with past vibration and correlation troubles in 2017 and said it will focus on combustion and other development work to close the performance and reliability gap as the season progresses.