Honda has identified combustion performance as the main weakness of its Formula 1 power unit and outlined plans to introduce two major engine upgrades for Aston Martin during the 2027 season. Speaking during the United States Grand Prix weekend, chief engineer Shintaro Orihara explained how the Japanese manufacturer intends to close the substantial performance gap that has emerged during the opening year of Formula 1’s new power unit regulations.
The development programme follows the strategy recently outlined by Adrian Newey, with Honda planning to take full advantage of the FIA’s Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) system. The mechanism provides additional opportunities for manufacturers whose engines fall significantly behind the leading power units, allowing Honda to pursue substantial improvements beyond the standard development restrictions.
Honda plans two major F1 engine upgrades for Aston Martin in 2027
Official FIA measurements conducted under the ADUO system have identified a deficit of more than 4% in the performance of Honda’s internal combustion engine (ICE) compared with the benchmark power unit produced by Red Bull Powertrains. This classification entitles the Japanese manufacturer to two additional development opportunities in both 2026 and 2027, outside the usual cost-cap restrictions.
Honda has therefore established a two-stage development roadmap for the 2027 Formula 1 season. The first substantial package is scheduled to arrive for the opening Grand Prix, while a second major upgrade is planned around the middle of the championship, approximately during the second group of races.
Shintaro Orihara explained the timetable and acknowledged that the initial improvements would not immediately bring Honda level with its strongest competitors.
“Our targets include introducing a first package of upgrades as early as the opening race of 2027, although we know that even at the start of the championship we will not yet be at the level of our strongest competitors. For that reason, we will need another step forward,” the Honda chief engineer explained.
“As Adrian Newey rightly pointed out, our plan is to introduce a second major upgrade around the middle of the season, approximately around the second group of races. That is our roadmap, and we are working hard on that basis.”
The strategy reflects the scale of the challenge facing Honda as it attempts to strengthen Aston Martin’s competitiveness under the new technical regulations. The Japanese manufacturer recognises that closing the gap to the leading power units will require more than a single development package, making the additional opportunities granted by the FIA particularly important.
Honda identifies combustion as the biggest weakness of its F1 power unit
Alongside its outright performance deficit, Honda has also had to address early technical difficulties involving vibrations and the integration of the power unit within the Aston Martin AMR26 chassis. These issues have been resolved through close cooperation with the Silverstone-based engineering team led by Adrian Newey.
However, the priority for Honda’s engineers at Sakura remains the search for additional engine power. The manufacturer has identified the combustion chamber of its turbocharged V6 engine as the main area requiring improvement, with combustion efficiency now at the centre of its development programme.
“Our weak point is definitely combustion, and that is where we are concentrating most of our efforts to improve,” Shintaro Orihara admitted.
“From next season, the outright performance of the internal combustion engine will become even more important, which is why this is the real key point of our programme.”
The comments provide a clear indication of Honda’s technical priorities as it prepares for the next stage of its partnership with Aston Martin. Improving the combustion process is considered essential to extracting more performance from the power unit and reducing the deficit to the strongest manufacturers.
Why the 2027 F1 engine regulations make Honda’s combustion problem more important
The need to improve the internal combustion engine has become even more urgent because of the regulatory changes established by the FIA for the coming seasons. Formula 1’s power unit regulations are moving towards a greater contribution from the combustion engine relative to the electrical system, with the balance progressively shifting towards a 60:40 split in favour of the ICE.
As the internal combustion engine accounts for a larger share of the total power output, overall energy management will have a reduced influence on performance. This change will increasingly reward manufacturers capable of extracting the greatest possible thermal efficiency from Formula 1’s fully sustainable fuel.
For Honda, that makes the weakness identified in its combustion chamber particularly significant. While the manufacturer’s engineers have already worked alongside Aston Martin to address the initial vibration and packaging problems, improving outright combustion performance remains the central objective for the 2027 power unit.
With two substantial upgrade packages planned and additional development opportunities available under ADUO, Honda has established a clear route towards improving its competitiveness. However, Shintaro Orihara’s comments also underline that the manufacturer does not expect to match the leading engines immediately at the start of 2027, making its second planned upgrade an important part of the recovery programme.
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