Honda chief gives Fernando Alonso another reason to ‘smile’ after Aston Martin upgrades in Hungary

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After Aston Martin delivered a season-best performance following massive upgrades at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Honda are looking to do the same.

Aston Martin’s upgrades to AMR26 made an instant impact, as both Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso delivered their best performances of the season.

Adrian Newey’s aerodynamic trick from his Red Bull days was just one of the many notable changes made to the chassis coming into the Hungarian Grand Prix.

Is Fernando Alonso living in la la land, or do you still think Adrian Newey can lead Aston Martin to the very top?

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Stroll and Alonso finished P13 and P14, respectively, a marked improvement from their previous results. The hope is that this is just the start of the improvement from Aston Martin.

And based on the comments from Honda’s chief engineer, Shintaro Orihara, things are only going to improve for Aston Martin going forward.

READ MORE: Martin Brundle hails Fernando Alonso for achieving ‘painful’ Aston Martin milestone at Hungarian GP

Honda expect new engine at Dutch Grand Prix to improve Aston Martin’s speed

Speaking to Diario AS and other outlets at the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend, Honda’s chief trackside engineer, Shintaro Orihara, gave an update on their engine upgrade.

Orihara and Honda will deliver an improved power unit to Aston Martin at the Dutch Grand Prix, and promised that it would give the team a reason to smile.

“In Hungary, we saw quite a strong pace, and now we’re back in contention. Any improvement is crucial to catching the rival car, and introducing the new engine at Zandvoort is fundamental.

“The chassis is working well, so our engine should give us reason to smile. It’s a good opportunity to test the new power unit in the new chassis”

When talking about why Fernando Alonso faced issues with the car earlier in the weekend, Orihara explained that “the engine temperature is not optimized in the new chassis.. We adjusted some parameters and have made considerable progress.”

READ MORE: Honda confident ‘corrective measures’ dispel Fernando Alonso’s complaints after new issue in Hungary

Here’s how the F1 championship looks at the summer break. Predict the top five at the end of the season 👇

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Shintaro Orihara guarantees improved lap time with new engine upgrade

When asked by a reporter from Marca about how the result at Hungaroring will set up Honda to improve the power unit, Orihara made a bold claim.

“It’s the baseline on which to build… We’ll gain lap time, that’s for sure… We can quantify what we need the improvements to give us.”

Aston Martin went all out on spending to improve the AMR26 chassis, and so far, the results have been encouraging to say the least.

After months of sustained humiliation, their performance at the Hungarian Grand Prix suggests that Aston Martin won’t be the laughing stock of the F1 paddock for much longer.

Of course, P13 and P14 will hardly do enough to justify the amount spent. But if Honda’s engine upgrade can deliver on a similar level, Aston Martin might find themselves challenging Racing Bulls and Alpine for the title of the fifth-best team on the grid.