Honda engine fragility exposed in Mexico double retirement for Aston Martin

Honda has been caught out by a lack of engine robustness in a new way in Mexico, where both Aston Martin cars retired in the same race. Fernando Alonso stopped on track and Lance Stroll retired in the garage after five laps, a double retirement that Honda's trackside boss Shintaro Orihara described as the key learning point.

The problem appeared to be triggered by special running phases, such as the tyre preparation lap in qualifying and the formation lap, which put stress on the energy recovery system's cooling circuit and led to an MGU-K failure. Team officials said the issue was not a faulty part, as Stroll ran a different engine, and that it would be incorporated into Honda's future dyno work.

Honda has brought software, calibration and hardware countermeasures to Interlagos for the Brazilian race, and lessons will be carried into its 2027 development work.