Honda engineer took the wheel to address Aston issue.

      "The most significant accomplishment of the past two months"

      Honda has announced that Aston Martin provided a complete Formula 1 car and permitted one of its senior engineers to operate it in an effort to address one of the primary issues at the start of the 2026 season. The new partnership between Aston Martin and Honda has faced a rocky beginning this year, but one of the most urgent concerns was the substantial vibrations caused by the car and power unit combination. Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing Corporation, states that the issue is now mostly under control.

      "After Suzuka, we transported the Aston Martin car to HRC Sakura, where we collaboratively analyzed the vibrations and developed countermeasures," he shared with as-web.jp. "The measures included hardware modifications and software enhancements. Consequently, the vibrations were essentially eliminated, and there were no issues during the driver evaluations from the Miami GP to the Monaco GP, so it has been mostly resolved. That was the biggest achievement of these past two months."

      A crucial element of the resolution involved Honda's trackside manager and chief engineer, Shintaro Orihara, actually driving the Aston Martin at Honda's Sakura facility in Japan. "I also went to see their progress," Watanabe disclosed. "Aston Martin engineers were present and observed Orihara and others driving the car. At Honda, the 'Three Realities Principle,' which Soichiro Honda promoted from the company's inception, is still very much alive.

      "Unless we can personally experience the vibrations that the drivers are reporting by actually driving the car, rather than just analyzing data, and confront the reality ourselves, the problem will remain unsolved. I want to express my gratitude to Aston Martin for understanding this and for their collaboration." Watanabe acknowledged that it is quite uncommon for engineers to have the chance to drive racing vehicles, especially in Formula 1.

      "Basically, opportunities to operate a racing car are not easily available," he noted. "It's infrequent even in Super Formula, and even less common in Formula 1. Even during production car testing, it is generally only test drivers who get the opportunity to drive them. It is extremely rare for engineers to drive them in this manner."