Honda, Orihara: “It’s good to have finished the race with Alonso. We are working hard to improve our performance”

Aston Martin, what a disappointment While the other teams on the grid will use the spring break to focus on performance, Aston Martin seems to be competing in a championship of its own in this respect too. The Silverstone team is in fact far behind and must set itself “minimum” objectives: having finished a GP for the first time in 2026 (with only Fernando Alonso) is seen as a step forward, even if it does not allow for a festive atmosphere towards Miami, in the knowledge that the problems are many (mainly linked to an unreliable and even less powerful Honda power unit) and difficult to resolve in the short term. The Japanese know they have to work hard to make up for the obvious gap compared to the competition in terms of power, reliability and energy management. Honda engineering manager Shintaro Orihara knows this well, but he has clear ideas about the next steps to take at Sakura. Orihara’s words “We have completed the entire distance of the race, this is a good step forward in terms of reliability. We are giving our all to improve the effectiveness of the batteries. In the Sakura plant we are working hard to improve the performance of the engines and we are working hard to evaluate and optimize energy management”, this is the comment of the Japanese engineer in Suzuka. “We also need to develop the engine’s performance from a mechanical point of view, and that won’t be a short job,” he added. “We will therefore continue to work hard, improving performance in the background. However, we collected a lot of data during the race, which allowed us to improve rideability and energy management. They will give us useful information in view of Miami.”