What to expect from Honda’s long-awaited F1 power unit upgrade

While Aston Martin introduced its first major upgrade package for the AMR26 in Hungary, Honda will bring its first update of the 2026 Formula 1 season to Zandvoort.

With Adrian Newey’s first upgrade package of the year, the deficit on the chassis side has been reduced considerably. Aston Martin is still a long way from where it wants to be, but figures from Paceteq show that its deficit in terms of race pace was “just” 2.034 seconds per lap in Hungary.

During the preceding weekends at Silverstone and Spa, that deficit was still more than five seconds per lap, although there are two important caveats. Firstly, bo