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Pedro De La Rosa, a brand ambassador for Aston Martin, has said he’s seen more positives from the AMR 2026 than people might expect.
The Chinese Grand Prix was yet another disappointing affair for Aston Martin, even given the low expectations set for them coming into the season.
Lance Stroll’s battery issue caused his race to end earlier than expected. But it was the concerning footage of Fernando Alonso’s car vibrating vigorously that created great concern for the driver.
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Aston Martin’s power unit suppliers, Honda, had hinted at countermeasures ahead of the weekend that would mitigate the vibration issue, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
Despite this, one figure closely associated with Aston Martin has claimed that what he’s seen and heard about the AMR26 is a lot more positive than the outside chatter.
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Pedro de la Rosa claims he backs Adrian Newey’s ‘much better’ car despite need for improvement
While speaking with DAZN, former F1 driver and current Aston Martin ambassador Pedro de la Rosa claimed that AMR26, despite its issues, is showing positive signs.
He admitted that the car’s internal functioning and metrics suggest it will do well when the power unit issues are resolved. However, de la Rosa maintained that the car does need to be improved.
“I’m with Adrian Newey. The car isn’t the best either, so we can’t say anything, but with the power differential we have right now, if you know how to subtract what you have to subtract, the car is much better than what I’m hearing.”
“That fills me with a lot of hope. The car is working quite well, the GPS analyses are coming out quite well, but I repeat, it is not the best either, and we also have to improve.”
de la Rosa’s comments echo Fernando Alonso’s praise for Aston Martin’s car. However, the true potential of the AMR26 won’t be realised till they address the Honda power unit issue.
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Shintaro Orihara claimed Honda ‘improved’ vibration issue despite Fernando Alonso’s struggles
After the Chinese Grand Prix, Honda’s general manager Shintaro Orihara noted the team had worked on the vibration issue and made improvements, but Fernando Alonso’s experience showed them that driver comfort still needs to be addressed.
“We have improved the vibrations on the systems side, but it’s still an issue for driver comfort. This is a key area to address as we look ahead to the next race in Japan.”
“As for Lance’s DNF, we are currently investigating the root cause, and work will continue with HRC Sakura, together with Aston Martin, to understand what happened on the ninth lap.”
The visual of Alonso’s car vibrating will not help the already-strained relationship between Honda and Aston Martin.
Heading into Honda’s home race in Japan, the hope is that Aston Martin’s long-running issues with the power unit will take a major step towards a resolution.
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