Should Aston Martin and Honda write off their 2026 Formula 1 season?

Aston Martin, with Adrian Newey designing their cars, and Honda, who have been winning titles with Red Bull between 2021 and 2024, along with the deep pockets of Lawrence Stroll, should have been a match made in heaven.

However, what transpired was the total opposite, as the AMR26—initially impressing with its design—can't seem to finish a race without the risk of falling apart due to the vibrations of the Honda power unit, which is also affecting the battery, not to mention the most important thing, the wellbeing of the drivers.

Newey basically threw Honda under the bus over the course of the 2026 Australian Grand Prix weekend in Melbourne last weekend, revealing that they have inexperienced staff working on the F1 project, a fact the Japanese manufacturer failed to disclose to Aston Martin.

And while assigning the responsibility of the huge clutter at Aston Martin/Honda may not be a straightforward process, former F1 driver Johnny Herbert seems to have a clear opinion.

"Adrian [Newey] can't turn it around; it's not really in his hands," Herbert said. "It is not really anything to do with the chassis. The chassis seems to be okay. It's more down to the combustion engine side of it.

"Honda, for whatever reason have not had the right people there. It's not the same people that were there doing the engine for Red Bull. It's a very Japanese thing. There's always a turnaround of the workforce because they like to give them experience.

"There's always a time when it gets a bit disjointed because you've probably got some very smart engineers who've gone through the process but have then moved on to other projects.

"It doesn't seem to be the right synergy at the present time," the 61-year-old reckoned. "There doesn't seem to be the right method that everybody else has been able to put together for this new combustion engine that we got for this year."

Both Aston Martin cars did not finish the race in Melbourne, and while Honda said they are on the right path towards completing a race distance, Fernando Alonso did not share that optimism.

Herbert seems to agree with the Spaniard and claims turning the situation around at Aston Martin will be a lengthy process.

"The turnaround is going to be long," he said. "It's going to take quite a long time. There's going to have to be help from both sides. Well, it's definitely months, and this year is a write-off.

"But there's no guarantee that even next year it's going to come good, because it's one hell of a lot of work that needs to be done. They can work on it and develop things in Japan, but the engine is so far off.

"The vibration they're talking about is supposed to be quite an issue. That's not easy to fix.

"It's a very complicated thing to try and find out where it's going wrong, which is going to take time, this season for sure," Herbert, a three-time Grand Prix winner, concluded. (Source: Snabbare)