Honda hint at Aston Martin breakthrough ahead of crucial Hungary weekend

The Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer said in his race preview that Honda has been working closely with Aston Martin as the team prepares to introduce a new chassis – effectively a B-spec version of its 2026 challenger – at the Hungaroring. Orihara also stressed that Friday's opening practice session will be crucial as the team looks to understand the characteristics of the upgraded car.

"The big talking point for the Hungarian Grand Prix is that the Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team will introduce their chassis upgrade. We are working closely with them to support on the power unit integration aspects, making FP1 a very important session to check the functionalities," Orihara explained.

The Honda chief added that the Hungaroring's layout, which places less emphasis on outright power unit performance, could allow Aston Martin to enjoy a stronger weekend despite not yet introducing Honda's upgraded B-spec engine.

"The Hungaroring is less sensitive for the power unit, so we may be able to expect better performance despite not having our B-spec engine here. It's also typically a warm race, so we will need to check the cooling elements too at the start of the weekend," he concluded.

Aston Martin has endured a difficult 2026 campaign, with its AMR26 suffering from a range of reliability and performance issues, including battery-related problems, vibrations and several other recurring concerns. The team hopes the introduction of its B-spec chassis this weekend will address many of those chassis-related shortcomings before Honda rolls out its upgraded power unit at Zandvoort.

Amid the anticipation surrounding Aston's upgraded car, the team has endured anything but a smooth build-up to the Hungarian Grand Prix, with the revamped machine yet to arrive at the Hungaroring. GPblog is on-site in Hungary and has observed every team busy preparing its cars for the weekend. However, Aston Martin's new B-spec challenger is still nowhere to be seen.

The team has brought an all-new chassis to Hungary in the hope of taking a significant step forward. However, the delay has once again put Aston Martin on the back foot, with the updated cars for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll not expected to arrive until later this evening, leaving the mechanics with considerably less time than usual to prepare them for the race weekend.

For now, only Aston Martin's A-spec car has arrived at the circuit. That car is also required in Hungary because the team has a filming day scheduled for next week. With work on the upgraded chassis unable to begin, the mechanics have instead been cleaning and organising the garage while awaiting the arrival of the new machinery.