HondaF1 chief Shintaro Orihara admits he is not expecting “big jumps” in performance at the Miami Grand Prix – with Aston Martin’s poor start to the 2026 season expected to continue.
Aston have been blighted by a string of issues with their 2026 car, having joined forces with engine partner Honda for the first time. They remain rooted to the bottom of the world championship standings on zero points after three rounds, level with this year’s new team, Cadillac.
More worryingly than any point ambitions, though, drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have struggled with the violent vibrations on the AMR26 car. Team principal Adrian Newey said before the season that both drivers were worried about “permanent nerve damage” to their hands and feet, while Alonso admitted after retiring in China that he was “starting to lose feeling in his hands and feet.”
An enforced five-week spring break presented Honda and Aston an opportunity to minimise the issues, but Orihara insisted the team must stay realistic ahead of round four in Miami this weekend.
“The Japanese Grand Prix [last race] showed that the work is going in the right direction and helped us to find the motivation to keep pushing forward,” said Orihara, Honda’s trackside general manager and chief engineer.
“After that race, we took the opportunity to keep one of the AMR26 cars on site for further static testing in Sakura for the first time, focusing our efforts on reducing the vibrations and thus increasing reliability.
“We have made some progress, allowing us to implement further countermeasures in Miami and later in the season.
“Realistically, this progress will not have a visible impact on the power unit performance on track, so we shouldn’t be expecting big jumps forward here.”
Despite the lack of optimism, 44-year-old Alonso did indicate during the April break that he is keen on staying in F1 beyond this season.
“I love what I do, I love racing,” he told the Monaco historic grand prix’s official TV channel. “I did my first race when I was three years [old], and I am 44, so 41 years of my life I have been behind a steering wheel.
“So the moment I have to stop racing, it will be very hard decision and difficult to accept. The time will tell. I will feel it. At the moment, I don’t feel it is that time yet.
“I feel competitive, I feel motivated, I feel happy when I drive. So, yeah, hopefully not the last season.”