> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.the-race.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # What's next for Aston Martin's and Honda's F1 development - URL: https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/what-aston-martin-revealed-about-2026-and-2027-upgrade-plan/ - Published: 2026-09-03T14:24:07.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-03T16:08:49.000Z - Description: Aston Martin has shed light on its 2026 and 2027 development plans - as has engine partner Honda - Author: Jack Cozens - Tags: Formula 1, #aston-martin, #image-bottom-right, #primary_homepage_feature Aston Martin's major Hungarian Grand Prix upgrade package and subsequent refinements it introduced at the Dutch GP look set to be its final developments of the 2026 Formula 1 season. That's according to its chief technical officer, Enrico Cardile, who has offered more about Aston Martin's development plan for this season and the 2027 campaign in [the latest edition of the team's Undercut interview feature](https://www.astonmartinf1.com/en-GB/news/feature/undercut-an-espresso-with-enrico-cardile?ref=the-race.com) ahead of the Italian GP. Here are the main takeaways from that - as well as more on what engine partner Honda can do over the remainder of the year. ## No more aero upgrades Aston Martin overhauled its car significantly at the Hungaroring before the summer break with the introduction of what essentially amounted to a B-spec car. That 16-part upgrade package included a new, lighter chassis and a new front wing concept - adjustments to which were made after the summer break at Zandvoort, where Aston Martin also introduced revised floor fences and a modification to its diffuser winglet. As a result, the team has introduced the joint-fourth-highest total of updates in 2026, with 34, though it jumps to second on the list - behind only Ferrari - when only performance updates are taken into account. The Race estimates it as being the highest upgrade spender so far this year. Cardile stated, though, that the parts introduced recently would be "the last planned aero developments" for its 2026 car. He said the only exception would be as a result of Aston Martin discovering something in its 2027 car development that "makes sense to test on track this year to help our correlation". "But as of now, nothing more is scheduled," Cardile added. ## Where more laptime can be found What will still change in the coming month is the weight of the car. Cardile confirmed Aston Martin still had "our weight‑saving programme to complete" and that it expects this to be done at the Azerbaijan GP, from which point "we'll essentially be running the final version of the car for the rest of the season". While there has been no official word on how much Aston Martin is, or was, over the limit, the suggestion is that at its peak the initial version of the AMR26 was 10-15kg too heavy. Cardile said Aston Martin would be "very, very close" to the weight limit by the time of the Baku race weekend on September 24-26. "It depends on what you choose as your reference race, but it’s a significant number - enough to dramatically improve laptime," he said, when asked how much weight had been saved. "That's a major achievement. Sometimes it comes from changing individual parts. Other times, it means rethinking how something was engineered in the first place - even the chassis. It's a mix of small details and big structural ideas." ## No 2027 carryover Cardile said in reference to Aston Martin's recent uptick in performance that he had recognised the frustration felt by drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll and said it was "important for us to get closer to giving them a car they can drive the way they want". Having accomplished that - with Alonso scoring points for only the second time in 2026 with a season's-best ninth at Zandvoort - Cardile said: "Now though, a lot of the conversation with them is about looking ahead. We're asking: what are the limitations of the 2026 car, and how do we make sure we take another big step for 2027?" But while saying the focus for the remainder of the campaign will be to use everything it can learn to "guide the 2027 project", he said there was no expectation that parts from this season would be used next year. "Every single part will be new," he said. "Everything will have been improved. "But conceptually, it will be an evolution of the direction we took with this year's car. "We're on the right path now, but we’re not tied to it. Let's put it this way: when it comes to tackling the '27 project, we haven't placed any constraints on ourselves in terms of trying to carry anything over from the previous car. "In this sense, it will be a completely new car, and it gives us the freedom and mindset to achieve what we want." ## Honda latest Honda brought its spec 2 engine upgrade to the Dutch GP - and this was an improvement. "We've made a double step, if you like: a big increase in raw performance and a big improvement in driveability," Cardile said. But Honda's F1 chief engineer Shintaro Orihara has accepted [that driveability remains its biggest limitation.](https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/what-next-for-aston-martin-alonso-and-honda/) He said at the Italian GP that another countermeasure to improve this would be introduced following work at Honda's Sakura facility. But these kinds of updates are likely to be the extent of what Honda brings over the remainder of 2026. Asked at Zandvoort whether any further hardware improvements were expected for this year, Orihara said: "This is the only major update for this year. "But if we found something, a good solution to improve our performance by small modification, that can be on the table. But \[there won't be\] a major update before 2027." Orihara nevertheless felt there was more power to be found - an estimate is that the Zandvoort upgrade provided a step in the 10-30bhp range - from optimisation. "We have brought some calibration change for this track to maximise our performance, but it's going to be no big change, just optimisation," Orihara said at Monza, when asked by The Race whether more performance was available. Alonso said the Honda upgrade was "not a big improvement, to be honest" - as he and Stroll were having difficulty exploiting the extra power - but asked by The Race if he still believed Honda could get back to the title-winning level it was at with Red Bull, he said: "100% yes. 100%. "It's a huge commitment from Honda. The facilities we have in Japan are one of the best. I think the personnel and the management of the power unit now has been reinforced as Honda said - and all the people that were in the previous project, they are in again on this one, so I think I have no doubts and I trust 100% Honda. "We just need to shortcut somehow that process."