Honda take blame and issue solemn vow after costly Aston Martin oversight

Honda has accepted responsibility for the double retirement that befell Aston Martin at the Mexico City Grand Prix, with trackside general manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara admitting the Japanese manufacturer underestimated the cooling demands of the high-altitude circuit.

Fernando Alonso's race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez ended in a DNF, having already been compromised by power unit trouble in qualifying that restricted him to P17 on the grid.

Lance Stroll fared no better, affected by the same issue that struck his team-mate as they were both forced into retirement on Lap 5 of 71.

It capped a miserable weekend for the Silverstone-based outfit, whose power unit partnership with Honda has been troubled for much of the 2026 campaign.

Severe vibration issues damaged battery packs and curtailed pre-season running, while the engine has also lagged behind rival manufacturers on straight-line power through the year.

Orihara explained that Honda had anticipated some difficulty given the unique demands of racing nearly 2,250 metres above sea level, where thinner air reduces cooling efficiency and forces turbochargers to work harder to compress sufficient oxygen into the combustion chambers.

"We knew that with the special high-altitude circumstance of Mexico City, we would face some additional challenges compared to other racetracks for the cooling," Orihara conceded before admitting the scale of the problem caught Honda out.

"However, we found that our ERS cooling circuit was under heavier stress than anticipated, and this is why we had to stop the car in different sessions."

[Article continues below]

Hard lessons for 2027

The chief engineer revealed that the fault had shown no warning signs in earlier runs, only to resurface when it mattered most.

He added: "Despite completing a series of laps during the practice sessions, the issue occurred [in the race] and during qualifying..."

Orihara was explicit that Honda intends to use the setback as a building block for next year's redesigned power unit, with HRC understood to be targeting a two-phase overhaul ahead of the opening rounds of the 2027 season.

"At each race this year, we need to learn for 2027, even the hard lessons," he said. "We have a lot of data that we can bring back to this circuit next year, including on the turbo lag, and we will work on the solutions."