Honda detail fresh priority after significant F1 breakthrough

Honda has outlined its renewed priority of fine-tuning its energy management settings after both cars reached the chequered flag in Miami for the first time this season.

The Japanese manufacturer has endured a difficult start to the 2026 campaign, with its power unit causing significant issues across the opening rounds.

The engine was prone to vibrations that placed stress on the Aston Martin chassis, as well as on the drivers in the cockpit.

However, last Sunday in Miami, both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll completed the full grand prix distance for the first time this year, marking a significant milestone for the Aston Martin-Honda package.

“After the Japanese Grand Prix, I mentioned HRC and Aston Martin worked very hard to bring countermeasures here,” Honda's chief engineer Shintaro Orihara told media including RacingNews365.

“We confirmed they are working well and also I’d say the drivers gave us positive comments that is good progress for Aston Martin and Honda.

“We have completed a full race distance and also a sprint race distance without any major reliability issues. That is good progress.”

As it continues to strive for improvements, Orihara has outlined that Honda can now seek to improve its performance, having been forced to place all of its focus on reliability thus far. 

“The next focus point, we can focus on optimising our data settings for energy management and also driveability,” he said.

“There is still a lot of room to improve on our power unit. That’s next.”