Aston Martin may be copying McLaren’s old Mercedes tactic with Honda engine criticism

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Aston Martin pointing the blame for their poor start to 2026 at Honda’s F1 engine is reminiscent of how McLaren made David Coulthard accuse Mercedes for any issues.

The 2026 F1 season marked the start of not only a new regulatory cycle, but of Aston Martin and Honda joining forces for the first time. F1 increasing the role of the battery in the engine formula convinced Honda to stick around, having earlier revealed their withdrawal from F1.

But the start of their relationship has been a blame game, with Aston Martin often pointing to Honda’s excessive engine vibrations for their difficulties. Fernando Alonso completed his first Grand Prix this season in Japan, while Lance Stroll has only registered a total of 82 laps.

It is also said that top Honda officials believe Aston Martin’s chassis exaggerates their engine vibrations, as the problem only became clear once their power unit was first installed in the AMR26. It has long been suggested that Adrian Newey’s chassis has not met expectations.

Aston Martin are blaming Honda for their woes like McLaren made David Coulthard blame Mercedes

Newey even shocked many in F1 when the Aston Martin team principal threw Honda under the bus at the first race in Australia. Newey claimed Honda’s engine vibrations were making the mirrors fall off their car, and that Alonso and Stroll feared nerve damage in their hands.

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

But the constant focus on the problems with Honda’s 2026 engine has kept the spotlight off Newey’s first Aston Martin, for which he took over the design after joining the team in April last year. It seems that Aston Martin have just taken a page out of Ron Dennis’ old playbook.

Coulthard recently recalled how Dennis used to have him lay the blame at Mercedes for any issues that arose while he drove for McLaren between 1996 and 2004. He also suggests that it may have been part of the reason why Mercedes elected to have their own team in 2010.

Speaking on the Up to Speed podcast, Coulthard said: “Ron Dennis would say to me if there was an issue – he’d go, ‘Yeah, say it was the engine’. And I’d refer this to Norbert Haug, who was the motorsports boss at that time. I don’t recall him ever, ever saying to blame the car.

“But I guess it goes to show, even though they were a team, it was two entities that were coming together to try and achieve success.

“And I guess that’s why, ultimately, Mercedes bought their own team, so they were never in a position where they would have to be subservient to a manufacturer.”

Carlos Sainz has spent the most time on the radio by any driver in 2026

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Mercedes were previously McLaren’s works engine partner from 1995 until 2014, before the latter parted ways with the former to join up with Honda. McLaren believed they needed to have a factory engine deal to beat Mercedes after their strong start to the 2014 regulations.

McLaren ultimately only stayed with Honda from 2015 to 2017, before switching to Renault through 2020 and then returning to Mercedes as an engine customer in 2021. McLaren put vast restrictions on Honda’s engine, which ultimately meant the power unit was insufficient.

Alonso famously remarked at Suzuka, which Honda own, that he was using a “GP2 engine” during the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix. Honda only began to find their way once they joined forces with Red Bull in 2019, but initially pulling out of F1 in 2020 ruined their programme.

Honda had to rebuild their F1 engine division for their partnership with Aston Martin, which has so far only produced negative publicity for the Japanese brand. Honda are unlikely to be happy with Aston Martin’s public criticism of their engine, and it may test their relationship.