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In his pre-race analysis for the Mexico City Grand Prix, Honda chief engineer Shintaro Orihara warned that the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez would push engines to their absolute limit. Even so, nobody inside the Aston Martin garage could have anticipated the weekend spiralling into such a complete nightmare.
The weekend had started with genuine promise. During free practice, the cars showed encouraging pace and logged solid mileage—Fernando Alonso ended second practice just 0.769 seconds adrift of pacesetter Charles Leclerc, with the AMR26s racking up an impressive 144 laps across the sessions. But when it mattered most, the campaign completely unravelled.
Although Honda engineers managed to iron out initial turbo lag and power delivery issues ahead of qualifying, Alonso's car was struck by water system anomalies on Saturday afternoon. While the Spaniard still managed to outpace teammate Lance Stroll, both drivers suffered an embarrassing Q1 exit, falling four tenths short of the cut-off.
Sunday's Grand Prix delivered an even harsher blow, with both cars forced to retire after just five laps due to severe overheating issues.
"We knew that the high altitude in Mexico City would put our cooling under far greater strain than at other circuits. However, the cooling loop on our Energy Recovery System (ERS) was subjected to much higher loads than anticipated, which forced us to retire the cars across different sessions," Orihara explained post-race.
"Despite putting together clean stints in practice, the issue resurfaced on both Saturday and Sunday. This season is all about taking lessons forward into 2027, even from the toughest weekends. We gathered a vast amount of data, including insights into the turbo lag, and we will work on concrete solutions for our return next year."
Orihara also pointed out that in previous years, the MGU-H assisted the turbocharger to virtually eliminate throttle lag. With the simplified new power units dropping that component, managing performance in the thin air of the Mexican capital has become an even greater technical headache.
While a dejected Stroll kept his post-race remarks to a minimum, Alonso offered a more detailed assessment of the challenges facing the team:
"The car itself is exceptionally good. The problem is that, with this engine, we clearly cannot run beyond a very limited number of laps. I hope we take these lessons on board and come back far better prepared next year."
The potential of the Adrian Newey-designed chassis remained evident even in Mexico's punishing conditions. Piecing together the two-time world champion's three best sectors on Sunday showed he was matching the pace of Williams' Carlos Sainz, despite carrying a full fuel load off the line.
Aston Martin Trackside Operations Director Mike Krack echoed those sentiments, highlighting that pure speed is there, but reliability remains their biggest stumbling block:
"Looking at the circuit on Thursday, we knew there were a lot of low-speed corners—like the stadium section and Turns 4, 5, and 6. We knew that if we had engine drivability under control, we would be competitive. Right now, it's tough for everyone to keep spirits high after a string of setbacks like this. We had a difficult start to the year, then the updates brought real progress, and now we're fighting reliability. But everyone in the team is fully motivated to find a way forward."
Despite suffering his seventh DNF of the season, a relentless Alonso remains focused on what lies ahead:
"I'm giving absolutely everything on every single lap, every morning, in every aspect of my preparation and routine. Everything is geared towards being flawless behind the wheel."
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