Honda looking to use funds from MotoGP division to fix Aston Martin’s vibration issue

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As Honda and Aston Martin continue to work on the problematic power unit, the Japanese heavyweights are going to dedicate more funds to the project.

The relationship between Honda and Aston Martin has faced some major challenges due to issues with the Japanese company’s power unit.

Adrian Newey’s public criticism of Honda has not helped matters, as the two sides now find themselves working in a very tense environment.

Have Aston Martin already ‘completely ruined’ their relationship with Honda?

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Internally, Honda’s experts anticipate a two-year recovery when trying to address the issues with the power unit.

But after Honda’s promised ‘countermeasures’ made little difference in Shanghai, the company have decided to go a step further in their effort to fix the problem.

READ MORE: David Croft fears Aston Martin are ‘totally overloading’ Adrian Newey by making him team principal

Honda will divert funds from other departments to cover cost of power unit issues

Spanish journalist Carlos Miquel spoke on Cortito y al Pie with Roldan Rodriguez. He revealed that Honda are ready to take a risk and allocate money outside of the cost cap to fix the power unit issues.

In fact, the Japanese suppliers are going to divert funds away from their MotoGP and other prominent divisions to quickly fix the major issues within the power unit.

“They are going to allocate money a little outside of the cost cap, but without violating it. They (Honda) will dedicate money from the MotoGP and other divisions to improve the situation.”

This revelation could create some concerns about Honda and Aston Martin attempting to circumvent the cost cap in an inappropriate manner.

Should the FIA look further into the validity of these claims, they could further penalise both Honda and Aston Martin for this decision.

READ MORE: Adrian Newey will be delighted with FIA’s cost cap measures as Bahrain and Saudi Arabia GP cancelled

Aston Martin’s partnership with Honda cannot go the same way as ill-fated McLaren relationship

For long-time fans of Formula One, the start of the partnership between Honda and Aston Martin is eerily reminiscent of the disastrous dynamic between Honda and McLaren.

After McLaren’s partnership with them ended, Honda had to work incredibly hard with Red Bull to salvage their reputation as a supplier.

Outside of the technical aspects of their relationship, a big reason why McLaren and Honda’s partnership didn’t end well was because of the opposing views of the problems they faced.

Both McLaren and Honda suggested that the development work of the other was to blame for their issues. Given how vocal Adrian Newey has been about Honda’s issues, it’s hard to believe that history isn’t repeating itself.

Honda president Koji Watanabe said the relationship with Aston Martin must improve. Perhaps Honda choosing to absorb the cost of these issues is a way for him to extend an olive branch during difficult times.