Honda Engineer Discusses Fernando Alonso’s Motivation and Aston Martin F1’s 2026 Prospects: “There’s Still Much Work to Be Done”
Francisco Tarín, a member of the Japanese brand, has explained what it’s like to work closely with drivers like the Spanish driver or Max Verstappen.
Honda Motivation for the Rest of 2026
Aston Martin’s project for the 2026 season showed promise, with many team members indicating that the goal was to build an AMR26 that could compete in the top tier of the standings.
This is something they achieved in 2023, but as the season progressed, they fell behind.
Therefore, they wanted to learn from their mistakes and improve in a year that would be crucial for the team’s future and also for Fernando Alonso.
Some voices claimed that Aston Martin was undergoing too radical a change, but the reality is that Lawrence Stroll’s team has been improving its infrastructure over the years.
Evidence of this is that they now have their own wind tunnel, a state-of-the-art simulator, and a cutting-edge factory that rivals Maranello’s.
Additionally, for 2026, they also aimed to build their own gearbox and partner with Honda for the first time.
Challenges and Opportunities
However, despite these improvements, Aston Martin has encountered a monoplace and, above all, a power unit that has given them many problems in the early races.
In fact, until now, the only race that Fernando Alonso has managed to finish was the recent Japanese GP.
Albeit in 18th position, while Lance Stroll has not been able to complete all the laps in a Sunday session.
While reliability has improved, the reality is that the Honda engine is still far behind the competition.
Francisco Tarín, a Spanish engineer at Honda, assures that they are highly motivated to continue progressing in 2026. “It’s a new challenge, and we know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but as a team, we also have the motivation to improve things as soon as possible. Formula 1 is the elite of motorsport, but the teams are also larger, and the tasks are more defined, so if someone arrives young and with high expectations, it’s normal for them to struggle to get started,” he said in an interview.
Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso: A Dream Team
Many drivers on the grid have grown up watching different engineers, drivers, or team members who are totally referential.
To them and for whom they fight every day to reach the top category of motorsport.
This is not different for Francisco Tarín, who has had the luck of working with Max Verstappen and now with Fernando Alonso:
“I decided to dedicate myself to this thanks to Fernando Alonso, so it’s an honor to share a team and work together on the track.”
Tarín has had the great fortune of sharing a team with two generational talents like Fernando and Max Verstappen.
And it always gives extra motivation to know how they feel the car and what they are capable of doing with it.
