Racing
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Franz Tost believes Aston Martin’s disastrous start to the 2026 Formula 1 season is a temporary setback driven mainly by Honda’s misfiring new power unit, and that the team’s realistic recovery point is 2027 rather than an immediate turnaround.
The former Toro Rosso team principal said Aston Martin’s position after the first five races shows the scale of the problem. The team is winless, pointless and last in the constructors’ championship, and Tost described the situation as “not good” because “several factors” are involved.
Speaking on the 15 Love business podcast, Tost said Honda is at the center of those struggles. He said the manufacturer “has improvised something with the power unit that is not working as they expected,” but added that he knows “the Japanese” well and is convinced “they will solve the problem by next year at the latest.”
That confidence comes from experience. Tost worked with Honda from 2018 to 2023 after its failed McLaren partnership, and he pointed to the way the company rebuilt its Formula 1 project from there. Honda later won multiple races and world championships with Red Bull, while Tost also shared in victory with Pierre Gasly at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
He also sees Aston Martin’s wider timetable as part of the issue. Adrian Newey only joined the project in March 2025, which Tost called “very late” for “such a huge project.” With teams able to start 2026 car development from January 1, 2025, he said Newey was already working from behind and that there is still “a lot to make up.”
That leaves Aston Martin with limited scope for a quick fix, even if Tost said there has been a slight upward trend in recent weeks. In his view, the team remains “miles away” from its own targets.
Even so, Tost still sees a path forward if the engine issues are resolved and Newey gets enough time. He said that if Newey remains healthy, he is “quite convinced” Aston Martin can produce “a decent car” for 2027.