Anthony Davidson thinks Aston Martin’s Honda engine suffered a ‘harvesting’ issue at Bahrain testing

Follow us on Google Discover

Anthony Davidson was trackside at Bahrain pre-season testing and noted that Honda’s engine sounded very different to its rivals in the Aston Martin.

Aston Martin’s start to the 2026 season has gone about as badly as it possibly could.

Adrian Newey’s team arrived late in Barcelona and completed fewer laps than any of their rivals during the first week in Bahrain.

The hope was that Wednesday’s running would run much more smoothly for Aston Martin, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth.

A detrimental issue with the Honda power unit disrupted Fernando Alonso’s running, and David Croft thought Newey would be furious that Lance Stroll’s spin in the afternoon exposed the bottom of the AMR26.

One of the main reasons why Aston Martin appear to be struggling so much is because of the Honda power unit.

Former F1 driver Anthony Davidson was examining the cars close up and noticed something listening to the Honda engine that might add another concern to Aston Martin’s list of worries.

READ MORE: All to know about Aston Martin F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Anthony Davidson says Aston Martin Honda’s sounded like it stopped ‘harvesting’ under braking

Davidson was covering testing for Sky Sports F1 (18/2 3:27 pm) and wanted to take a closer listen to the different power units.

He explained: “Here comes Hamilton again. Sounds nice and clean on the downshifts; they’re very fast as well.

“There’s no raspiness to it like the Audi has. This is Colapinto, and I don’t know if you can hear the difference there, but it’s a complete contrast in the noise levels.

“The rasp that the Ferrari engine isn’t making compared to the Mercedes power units that came past after him.

“It’s really interesting. Does it differ in performance? I don’t know, probably not. It just sounds, the Ferrari power unit, much clearer.

“Here’s another Ferrari power unit, and I can hardly hear it, it’s that quiet under deceleration.

“The Honda, very interestingly, it sounds like it momentarily disengages from any harvesting or something going on through this turn nine braking zone.

“Momentarily, the revs just completely drop and plummet without any sound, without any hint of regen.”

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2

Max Verstappen reacts to Honda’s 2026 struggles with Aston Martin

Honda have had a mixed history during their time in Formula 1, and Alonso knows all about their potential struggles.

Their partnership with McLaren never went to plan, but Max Verstappen can more than vouch for the Japanese manufacturer.

The Honda-Red Bull partnership helped Verstappen win four world championships, but the team are now producing their own power units for the 2026 season and beyond.

Verstappen has wished Honda well, but it’s clear up and down the paddock that they’re struggling right now.

The issues appear to be arising from the fact that Honda initially shut off their Formula 1 efforts when their partnership with Red Bull was coming to an end before Aston Martin brought them back into the sport.
That delay has proven to be costly, and with concerns over Aston Martin’s gearbox adding to power unit difficulties, it could end up being a very sluggish start to 2026 for Alonso and Stroll.