Why Honda’s power unit lasted barely five laps in F1 Mexico GP
In its Mexico Grand Prix preview, Honda’s Shintaro Orihara had described Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as “a very challenging track for the power unit”, but he perhaps didn’t expect Aston Martin’s weekend to go so awry. Despite decent pace and mileage in free practice – Fernando Alonso was just 0.769s down on pacesetter Charles Leclerc in FP2, with the AMR26s covering a whopping 144 ... Keep…
Honda's power unit faced significant challenges during the Mexico Grand Prix, lasting just five laps before retiring. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso and his teammate Max Verstappen both experienced cooling issues, retiring after five laps. Honda's trackside general manager and chief engineer, Shintaro Orihara, attributed the issue to the additional challenges posed by the high-altitude conditions in Mexico City.
The power unit's electronic rear suspension (ERS) cooling circuit was under heavier stress than anticipated, leading to the retirements. Despite completing several laps in practice sessions, the problem persisted during qualifying and the race. Honda plans to analyze the data collected during the race and apply the lessons learned to the 2027 season.
Both Alonso and Verstappen expressed disappointment with the situation, acknowledging that reliability was a significant challenge. Aston Martin's trackside officer, Mike Krack, highlighted the track's low-speed corners as a potential area for improvement if driveability issues can be resolved. The team remains motivated, despite facing numerous reliability issues throughout the season.
Written by urgent.news from Motorsport.com's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
