Honda has issued a statement explaining the cause of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll’s issues after a disastrous Sunday at the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix.
Starting the weekend with promise, Aston Martin set a preliminary target of reaching Q2 with both cars, but this ambition quickly became a nightmare.
Alonso was forced to stop on circuit in the opening minutes of Q1 after the team saw an issue on his car, while Stroll could only qualify 17th,
The race proved no better, as both cars retired in the opening five laps, wrecking the chances of the team’s most competitive race of the season.
Cooling issues were to blame, with Honda’s ERS system proving highly susceptible to the thinner air at a circuit over 2,000 feet above sea level.
Honda has now issued a statement acknowledging the issue and revealing just how badly the Japanese manufacturer underestimated the unique cooling demands of Mexico City,
“We knew that with the special high-altitude circumstance of Mexico City, we would face some additional challenges compared to other racetracks for the cooling,” Honda Trackside General Manager and Chief Engineer Shintaro Orihara said.
“However, we found that our ERS cooling circuit was under heavier stress than anticipated, and this is why we had to stop the car in different sessions.”
Honda confirms “hard lessons” in 2026 being learnt
Orihara confirmed that Honda saw the issue suddenly appear in qualifying, but added the manufacturer is already hard at work on a solution to counter their underestimation.
“Despite completing a series of laps during the practice sessions, the issue occurred [in the race] and during qualifying,” he said.
“At each race this year, we need to learn for 2027, even the hard lessons,” he said. “We have a lot of data that we can bring back to this circuit next year, including on the turbo lag, and we will work on the solutions.”
Honda endured something out of a horror movie in Mexico City, and has taken the blame.
The next race in São Paulo will provide a test to see if it can bounce back from a weekend that threatens to set Aston Martin’s progress back if the ERS issues rematerialise at a circuit less than 1,000 feet above sea level.
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