Gary Anderson has advised Adrian Newey to tread carefully after the Aston Martin boss raised doubts about how transparent Honda have been with their F1 engine situation.
Anderson was caught off guard by Newey’s remarks before the Australian Grand Prix. The highly regarded engineer spoke to reporters in Melbourne, laying out the issues that have come up between Aston Martin and Honda early on in their new engine partnership.
Aston Martin had high hopes for their exclusive deal with Honda, especially with the 2026 regulations on the horizon. They saw it as a potential path to race wins and even a title shot. But things haven’t started well – both Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll failed to finish the race, with Honda struggling due to a lack of spare parts.
Newey shared in Australia that Honda were down to just two working batteries after repeated failures during testing. It wasn’t until after two sessions in Bahrain that they realised the engine was causing severe vibrations that were damaging the batteries.
Adrian Newey’s comments on Honda caught Gary Anderson off guard
Newey also noted at Albert Park that vibrations from Honda’s V6 engine are making their way through Aston Martin’s chassis. The vibrations are so severe that Alonso and Stroll could be at risk of permanent nerve damage if exposed to them for too long.
But what stood out most to Anderson was Newey saying that he and Aston Martin didn’t realise until last November just how far behind Honda’s engine programme was when they started work on the 2026 PU. He doesn’t think Honda will be happy about that comment.
Anderson explained to The Race: “I was surprised not only by how bad things are, but also how Adrian Newey is dealing with those problems in public.
“Drawing on my experiences of working with Honda, you can get a rapid and very successful response out of them once they recognise a problem. However, that was all done behind closed doors. And while there’s nothing wrong with talking about the fact engine vibrations were damaging the batteries, Honda really do not like anyone being disrespectful in public.
“Newey stating that Honda were not clear about the state of their F1 department when the deal for engines was done won’t have pleased anyone at Sakura.
“With his double role, Newey needs to be very careful and open about which hat he is wearing when he does these media sessions. His questions and answers will and should be very different. Team principals can get into the politics of any situation, but as technical director it has to be all about engineering and facts.”
Adrian Newey believes just 30% of Red Bull engine staff stayed with Honda
Before the Australian GP, Newey said Aston Martin weren’t made fully aware of the state of Honda’s F1 engine programme when they agreed to an exclusive deal for 2026. Honda had to restart their operation after their initial decision to leave the sport in 2020.
It wasn’t until a visit to Japan by Newey, team owner Lawrence Stroll and chief strategy officer Andy Cowell in November that they saw how much work Honda still had ahead. According to Newey, only around 30% of the staff who worked on Red Bull’s engine remained.
Honda were also working under F1’s engine cost cap from the very start of their new project. Other teams had two full years before it took effect in 2023, giving them a big head start before Honda reversed their decision to stay out of Formula 1.
Read more:
