Aston Martin pin hopes on Honda’s upgraded engine

Honda will bring its “Spec 2” power unit to the Dutch Grand Prix, giving Aston Martin another opportunity to recover ground in the Formula 1 midfield after a difficult start to the season.

The updated engine is designed to work alongside Aston Martin’s extensive package of upgrades introduced at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The team chose to debut a B-specification car at that race rather than spread smaller updates across several weekends, and the change appeared to deliver an immediate improvement in qualifying pace.

Aston Martin moved ahead of Cadillac and Williams in qualifying at the Hungaroring before Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso finished 13th and 14th respectively. The team now hopes the Honda upgrade will help it challenge closer to Racing Bulls and Alpine.

Honda targets combustion and friction gains

Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s trackside general manager and chief engineer, said the manufacturer had concentrated on several internal changes to improve engine performance.

“We changed the pre-chamber to make combustion faster, and also we changed the piston shape to get good combustion. We modified some lubrication systems to reduce friction. We have a quite big list to improve engine performance.”

The Spec 2 power unit was first run on track during a filming day at the Hungaroring, where Honda and Aston Martin assessed how it worked with the team’s revised car. Honda has not disclosed a specific horsepower gain, but Orihara said the engine had met the company’s internal target.

“I can’t disclose that detailed number, but we have achieved our internal target and I’m confident in what the HRC Sakura factory guys achieved for the spec 2 engine.”

After early-season vibration and reliability problems were resolved, Aston Martin shifted its focus towards later-season development. The Dutch Grand Prix will provide the first competitive test of whether Honda’s revised power unit can convert that work into a meaningful points challenge.

“We are excited to bring the new spec engine to the Netherlands and we will see where we are,” Orihara said.