New Honda F1 engine to debut in Aston Martin filming day ahead of Dutch GP

Honda has announced it will debut its new Formula 1 power unit at an Aston Martin filming day this Wednesday at the Hungaroring.

Fresh from a confidence-boosting Hungarian Grand Prix where Aston Martin released its B-spec AMR26 F1 car with a clear pace improvement in both qualifying and race trim, Honda will debut its updated engine at a team filming day on Wednesday at the same venue.

Honda had previously lined up the first race after the F1 summer break, the Dutch GP, as the event it would deliver its power unit updates, its first permitted under ADUO.

But it has now announced its official debut will be at the Hungaroring before its first F1 session at Zandvoort on 21-23 August.

“In Hungary, we have been supporting the team with the power unit integration. We’ve also been able to collect vital data, which will help us come to the next race,” Shintaro Orihara, Honda trackside general manager and chief engineer, said.

“We will now take the important step of introducing our new-spec power unit in the Netherlands.

“Before then, during Wednesday’s filming day, we will run the new engine in the AMR26 for the first time, before the summer shutdown commences.”

Stroll led Aston Martin to 13th in Budapest, directly ahead of team-mate Fernando Alonso, who broke into Q2 for the first time this year. The performances saw Aston Martin outperform Cadillac, Williams and Haas.

“I think it was a good step forward, both in quali and the race, so yes, a new baseline to work with for the second part of the year,” said Alonso.

“The correlation is good and the performance gains are there, what we expect. It’s obviously early days with this new car. It’s a completely new car, new concept, so more to come maybe on setup, optimisation and things like that.

“So, next race is also with the engine upgrade, will be an interesting check in Zandvoort, where we are and what we can fight for.”

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– The Autosport.com Team