Honda sees progress at Sepang. Aston Martin clears its Q1 barrier. The power-unit gap remains.
Honda has called Aston Martin’s first double Q2 appearance of the season a step forward, after Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll both advanced beyond the opening phase of qualifying at Sepang. Alonso secured P12 for Sunday’s race, with Stroll lining up P14.
The result does not erase the team’s difficult start to its works partnership with the Japanese engine supplier. But after months of reliability concerns and limited pace, both cars clearing Q1 offers a measurable sign of team progress.
Alonso and Stroll reached Q2 from P14 and P15 in Q1, respectively, before exiting in the second session. For Honda, the joint progression matters: Alonso had previously been the only Aston Martin driver to reach Q2 this season, at the Hungarian Grand Prix in July.
Honda and Aston Martin make progress in Sepang qualifying
Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s trackside general manager and chief engineer, credited work between sessions for the improvement. After FP2, engineers at the track and HRC Sakura analysed driver feedback, then used the findings to refine energy management and driveability ahead of qualifying.
Those adjustments were particularly relevant to the revised turbocharger, introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid. Orihara said the package behaved as expected in Sepang’s hot, humid conditions, but the double Q2 showing remains a modest marker rather than proof that the underlying pace deficit has vanished.
Earlier reliability problems—including battery failures during pre-season testing and persistent power-unit vibrations—have shaped the partnership’s first campaign. Recent steps in Honda’s engine development for Aston Martin show the scale of the ongoing technical development effort.
The power-unit roadblock still limits Aston Martin’s pace
Aston Martin has already brought major chassis revisions, including 16 upgrades at the Hungaroring, while Honda introduced a Spec 2 engine at Zandvoort and later revised its turbocharger. The team has also used its Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities tokens, yet these measures have not transformed its position.
Stroll has put a stark figure on the remaining problem: at power-sensitive venues with long straights, he estimates the Honda power unit can cost the car as much as two seconds per lap. That shortfall helps explain why progress at Sepang can coexist with a sizeable performance ceiling at circuits such as Baku and Monza.
The latest chassis work at the Hungarian Grand Prix underlined how much the team is pushing to close the gap. Yet aerodynamic gains cannot fully compensate when the engine supplier’s package leaves time on the straights.
What Sepang means for Honda’s Formula 1 partnership
Qualifying offers Alonso and Stroll a chance to turn the breakthrough into a race result, but Sepang’s weather could complicate that task. Honda says it is preparing for changing conditions and different race scenarios, with strategy and energy deployment likely to shape how long the cars can defend their positions.
For Aston Martin, the wider test is whether the partnership can convert isolated gains into repeatable performance. A double Q2 appearance is the first shared qualifying milestone of the season; closing the power-unit deficit is the harder measure of whether the project is moving forward.
The weekend therefore offers two readings: both cars escaped Q1, but neither reached the top ten. Honda has a clear signal that its adjustments are helping, while the two-second estimate remains a blunt reminder of the roadblock still facing the team.
