Honda to debut new F1 engine early at Hungaroring filming day
Honda announced that its new 2026 Formula 1 power unit will be run for the first time on Aston Martin’s AMR26 chassis during a Wednesday filming day at the Hungaroring. The session allows a maximum of 200 km of running and will take place before the scheduled competitive debut at the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s track‑side general manager and chief engineer, said the team has already collected vital data in Hungary and feels pressure to deliver lap‑time gains as Aston Martin’s chassis shows improvement. He confirmed the early shakedown will help the team prepare for the official debut at Zandvoort.
At the Hungarian Grand Prix Aston Martin showed progress, with Lance Stroll finishing 13th and Fernando Alonso 14th, ahead of Alpine, both Haas cars and both Williams cars. The team currently sits 10th in the constructors’ championship, one point ahead of newcomers Cadillac.
Entities: Aston Martin · Aston Martin Cognizant Formula 1 Team · Fernando Alonso · Honda · Honda Racing Corporation · Lance Stroll · Mike Krack · Shintaro Orihara
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 9 SOURCES] The engine will be run in Aston Martin’s AMR26 chassis. (Shintaro Orihara)
- [● 9 SOURCES] Honda will debut its new Formula 1 power unit during a filming day at the Hungaroring on Wednesday. (Shintaro Orihara)
- [● 9 SOURCES] At the Hungarian Grand Prix, Lance Stroll finished 13th and Fernando Alonso 14th, ahead of Alpine, both Haas and both Williams cars.
- [● 9 SOURCES] Aston Martin is 10th in the constructors’ championship, one point ahead of Cadillac.
- [● 9 SOURCES] The filming day permits a maximum of 200 km of running. (Shintaro Orihara)
- [● 9 SOURCES] The official race debut of the new power unit was originally scheduled for the Dutch Grand Prix in August.
- [● 9 SOURCES] The new engine is expected to provide lap‑time gains at the upcoming Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort. (Shintaro Orihara)
- [● 9 SOURCES] Honda feels pressure to deliver performance gains after Aston Martin’s chassis improvements. (Shintaro Orihara)