Adrian Newey tells Honda to ‘start working’ on their 2027 engine amid Aston Martin plight

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Adrian Newey has warned Honda not to neglect their 2027 power unit as they desperately seek a solution for Aston Martin’s dire predicament. Newey was speaking in a press conference at the Australian Grand Prix on Friday.

Fernando Alonso, who missed FP1 before completing 18 laps in FP2, said the driving experience at Albert Park felt similar to Bahrain testing. The vibrations from the Honda engine are so severe that Alonso and Lance Stroll are apparently at risk of nerve damage.

Newey said on Thursday that any continuous stint longer than 25 laps poses a health risk to his drivers. On that basis, it is difficult to see how Aston Martin can complete Sunday’s 58-lap race.

Aston Martin boss Adrian Newey reveals Honda only have two operational batteries left

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Adrian Newey says Aston Martin need far more power for 2027

Aston Martin can’t ‘run reliably’ until Honda get the vibrations under control. They are down to two batteries, one for each car, in Melbourne after the first two units failed.

While the team remain outwardly optimistic of achieving respectable results later in the season, there’s a growing feeling that 2026 will be a write-off.

Newey says Honda must balance their emergency repairs with long-term work on the 2027 engine. Aston Martin currently face a huge horsepower deficit, which must be addressed.

• READ MORE: Adrian Newey left ‘tutting’ as disastrous Aston Martin press conference sums up their 2026 season

“I think we are where we are with Honda,” said Newey. “Obviously, our focus now is to work with Honda to get to the best possible place.

“Being realistic, this season is first of all, as I mentioned, getting on top of this vibration problem so we can run reliably, and from there to see how much performance they can add to the combustion engine in particular.

“Then at the same time, of course, Honda needs to start working on the ’27 engine because it’s clear that a very large step in combustion engine power is needed for ’27, and that has to be their sole focus.”

Aston Martin need a year to build ‘a car that works’

Sky Germany pundit Timo Glock says the first half of the season is already ‘over’ for Aston Martin, even though this is only round one of 24. Glock believes they will spend 2026 working towards a functional race car.

Given the ongoing shortage of representative running – Jenson Button says Aston Martin aren’t ‘learning anything’ – it will be extremely difficult for Newey to upgrade the AMR26. That means the gap to the rest of the field may only increase.

“The first half of the season is definitely over for Aston Martin,” said Glock. “From what I hear, the issues are so significant that it will take the entire year to have a car that works.

“The problem is that all the other teams aren’t standing still and are also continuing to develop. Aston Martin now has the task of first sorting out the problems and then pushing forward with the car’s development in order to even be able to catch up with the rest of the field. That’s a very big challenge.”

Aston Martin are the only Honda customer, so they can’t rely on other teams to gather valuable data. It was thought that being a de facto works team would be a key advantage; instead, it’s proving to be a curse.