The pilots of the Aston Martin team, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, have encountered difficulties in handling the new Honda engine during the Sprint qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix. This new V6 power unit presents driving issues that, although predictable, have surprised the team.
Alonso and Stroll used the second specification of the engine, which Honda has decided to implement this season. The Japanese brand chose Zandvoort to introduce its most significant upgrade.
After an incident-free first day, with a filming day dedicated to testing the engine, the drivers discovered serious difficulties during qualifying. Alonso suffered from strong vibrations, and at the first corner, he went off track, ending the session in last place with a time three seconds behind the fastest. Stroll, on the other hand, achieved a better position but could not climb beyond 19th place.
Alonso commented after the session: “We had to do more to optimize the engine, as its power delivery was complicated during braking. Sometimes it was hard to stop the car for this reason.” Stroll agreed with his assessment, indicating that his power unit also presented similar issues.
This performance raises questions about the implementation of the new engine, as Honda had anticipated establishing a significant improvement after the last system update that had moved the team to mid-table. The leader of Honda’s Formula 1 project, Shintaro Orihara, confirmed that the introduction of this new specification implies that many of the previous advances would need to be reconsidered.
The drivers and the team have committed to reviewing the data and working through the night to better adapt to the new engine and overcome these difficulties. The Dutch Grand Prix promises to be a good test to see how they react after these complications.
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
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