Where Honda engine is truly losing out to Mercedes
Lance Stroll at the wheel of the Aston Martin AMR26, powered by Honda
Honda chief engineer Shintaro Orihara conceded that a lack of pure engine power is holding it back compared to Mercedes and its other rival F1 power unit manufacturers.
As such, Orihara highlighted this as an area which the Japanese manufacturer must improve for F1 2027. Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll expressed confidence that major gains will be found on the chassis side next year, but admitted engine power remains the unknown.
Honda admits ‘engine power itself’ main limitation
The Aston Martin and Honda alliance has proven to be something of a slow burner in its first year.
Fernando Alonso recorded a best result so far for this partnership of eighth at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, where both the Spaniard and his teammate Lance Stroll made it into Q2.
That marked only the team’s third top-ten result of the season.
In this new era of Formula 1, Mercedes is widely regarded as having the best power unit package. Red Bull has the best internal combustion engine, according to the FIA.
Orihara was asked where the main deficit lies in the Honda PU, compared to Mercedes.
“The main big difference is engine power itself,” he told PlanetF1.com and other accredited media.
“So we brought the Spec 2 engine, but still there is a gap between Mercedes and Honda, and also to competitors.
“So it’s mainly coming from the engine power itself.”
The ICE makes up roughly 50 per cent of engine power, working alongside electrical energy in this new formula.
Orihara was asked whether the energy deployment is impacted by this ICE deficit.
“Energy management can affect car speed. But it’s difficult to split.
“If we have a big engine power difference, it’s difficult to say how much difference is coming purely from energy management, because if engine power is low, that also has a negative impact on energy management. So, it’s difficult to split.
“But it’s mainly coming from engine power. So, that is an area we need to improve for next year.”
Stroll hopes that Honda is successful in that mission.
The B-spec AMR26 chassis arrived in Hungary, followed by further smaller revisions, with the Canadian declaring that a huge step forward. He has no doubt that further progress is coming.
He placed the ball in Honda’s court to mirror that progress on the engine side.
“I hope we’re in a much better spot next year,” he told PlanetF1.com and others. “I hope we’re fighting for points and we’re in the mix.
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“This year has been a long year for everyone. We’re down on power. We started the season off not where we wanted on the chassis side.
“I think we made huge improvements on the chassis side. Big step in Budapest. We’re confident we can find a lot more performance.
“Engine power, that remains to be seen, next year, race one, how we go. But hopefully we’ll be in a much more competitive spot.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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