“It’s a lottery” - Aston Martin plagued by “a lot of issues” with new Honda F1 engine
Honda’s updated power unit has come in for criticism after Dutch GP qualifying
Lance Stroll says Honda’s power unit update is “not nearly enough” of a gain, while also calling the drivability of it “a lottery” after Formula 1 Dutch Grand Prix qualifying.
Aston Martin took delivery of Honda’s updated power unit ahead of this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix, after it made its track debut in a filming day in Hungary last month.
But its first race weekend outing has been less than impressive, with both Aston drivers failing to exit the first part of sprint qualifying and main qualifying.
Lance Stroll says the car’s chassis is “quite good”, but the Honda power unit is still far from where it needs to be.
“Not so much, I think. Maybe a bit, but not nearly enough,” Stroll, who was 19th in qualifying, said about the Honda engine.
“On the chassis side, I think we're quite good.
“We made a big step in Budapest. The drivability and the power is the next thing we need to really work on.”
When pressed on what the drivability of the Honda power unit is like, Stroll added: “Not good, not good. It's a lottery.”
“Right now, we're just not getting the consistent engine braking, going into the corner and a lot of rejected downshifts. So, yeah, a lot of issues.”
Fernando Alonso, who was 18th in Zandvoort qualifying, pointed out that it was “amazing” to be just over a second from the best time in Q1.
However, he echoed Stroll’s comments on Honda’s power unit, but doesn’t expect any fix until the Italian Grand Prix.
“Unfortunately, here on the track side, there is not much we can do,” the Spaniard, who complained of power unit issues after sprint qualifying, said.
“We need to rely on some big changes in the factory or software or whatever is needed.
“This has to come from Japan, so it's not from one day to the next.
“It's more towards Monza where we need to find another step there. There are a couple of tenths to optimise in the package.”
Aston’s difficult Zandvoort weekend comes after it introduced a B-spec upgrade package in Hungary.
Alonso made Q2 for the first time in 2026, while Stroll went on to score his best grand prix result of the campaign.
