Quietly, without fanfare, Aston Martin and Honda ticked off a genuinely significant milestone on Wednesday. The new-specification Honda power unit turned its first laps in the AMR26 during a filming day at the Hungaroring, just 24 hours after the team had wrapped up Pirelli tyre testing. The engine is expected to bring close to 30bhp when it makes its race debut at the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort on 23 August (check the calendar for your local time).
Crawford Gets the Keys
Notably, it was reserve driver Jak Crawford behind the wheel rather than Fernando Alonso or Lance Stroll. That tells you everything. This was a proper engineering shakedown, not a marketing exercise. Honda’s engineers needed clean, unbiased data to compare directly against what they learned at the race weekend. Filming days carry strict limitations, including a 200km cap and mandatory demo tyres, but that was apparently enough to get the answers they needed.
Early Signs Are Encouraging
Honda’s Trackside General Manager Shintaro Orihara had already flagged engine oscillation issues during Friday practice in Hungary, though he was careful to distinguish these from the battery vibration problems that plagued the team earlier in 2026.
“We observed an engine oscillation issue on both cars in FP1. From our analysis, that was coming from an engine combustion characteristic. Session by session, the oscillations got better. We have made good progress.” – Shintaro Orihara
Initial reports from Wednesday suggest those troublesome vibrations appear to have been eliminated in the new-spec unit. That alone would be progress worth celebrating.
30bhp: Solid, Not Spectacular
The new Honda RA626H uses ADUO tokens, the FIA’s catch-up mechanism for struggling manufacturers, and the estimated power gain of just under 30bhp sounds impressive until you remember where Aston Martin are starting from. Mercedes and Red Bull-Ford are not exactly quaking. However, combined with the 16-development B-spec AMR26 that debuted in Hungary, it could be the combination that finally drags Alonso and Stroll into regular points contention.
Krack’s Refreshingly Honest Take
Team boss Mike Krack deserves credit for not dressing this up. He acknowledged the relationship with Honda was genuinely difficult earlier in the season, describing frank conversations that ultimately strengthened the partnership.
“Believe me, it was tough, but it is something that you have to go through, and then you improve from there.” – Mike Krack
The Summer Break Cannot Come Soon Enough
Aston Martin head into the shutdown with more genuine optimism than they have had all year. Whether 30bhp and a reshaped chassis translates into points at Zandvoort remains to be seen. The new engine has passed its bench tests in Sakura, ticked its boxes on Wednesday, and the team have more steps planned for Monza and Baku beyond that. Progress is real. Whether it is enough is a different question entirely.
