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A former Honda engineer has asserted that the Japanese engine manufacturer bears responsibility for Aston Martin’s troubles because they weren’t brave enough to intervene during Adrian Newey’s initial development of the AMR26.
The British constructor remains at the bottom of the constructors’ standings after four rounds of racing, with Fernando Alonso’s recent P15 at the Miami Grand Prix serving as their best result so far.
2026 has been nothing short of a disaster for Aston Martin, especially considering the ambitious expectations that the F1 paddock had for them coming into the new campaign.
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A troublesome pre-season saw Adrian Newey blame Honda for the bulk of Aston Martin’s woes, in a verdict that many believed had ruined the relationship between Aston Martin and their new engine supplier before it had properly kicked off.
However, Newey has since recognised that he is also at fault for the AMR26’s poor performance. Hailed as a genius when it comes to the chassis side of things, the 2026-spec challenger’s difficulties in high-speed corners have been exposed at recent race weekends.
- READ MORE: F1 paddock insiders think ‘fussy’ Adrian Newey is refusing to let Aston Martin upgrade their car
In a recent interview with Web Sportiva, ex-Honda engineer Yasuaki Asaki revealed his fears of a possible collapse at Aston Martin if the British aerodynamicist remains in the role of team principal.
However, Asaki, who was present on the podium following Red Bull’s one-two at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix, has also pointed the finger at Honda, due to their lack of decisiveness during the 67-year-old’s initial work on the AMR26.
Yasuaki Asaki says Honda should have been ‘more decisive’ with Adrian Newey’s development ideas
The former engineer turned F1 commentator strongly believes that someone from HRC should have stepped in to prevent Newey from taking Aston Martin down the wrong route in development.
“It is likely that those around him realised this would happen at an early stage, yet no one was able to rein in Newey’s excesses,” Asaki told the Japanese outlet.
“I believe what was truly needed was a process of eliminating what should not be done, whilst retaining only the genius’s sharp instincts. In hindsight, Aston Martin lacked the personnel capable of harnessing that genius effectively.
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“Ultimately, I believe this incident has revealed that it was precisely because Newey was part of the strong Red Bull organisation that he was able to demonstrate his genius.”
“However, I believe this isn’t solely Aston Martin’s problem; Honda also bears some responsibility. There must have been people within Honda who realised that pushing Newey’s ideas forward would lead to disaster.
“Still, no one clearly said, ‘That is something we shouldn’t do.’ If Honda had been more decisive, the situation would have been different.
- READ MORE: Aston Martin shareholders are now looking to ‘review’ Lawrence Stroll’s control over F1 team
“On the other hand, Newey only knew the success he had experienced with Red Bull, so he didn’t take Honda’s weak, evasive arguments seriously.
“Newey himself may never have imagined things would go this badly, but I suspect that this ultimately led to the worst possible outcome.”
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