Aston Martin Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack has played down suggestions of a rift between Aston Martin and Formula 1 power unit supplier Honda.
Following its disastrous start to 2026, Aston Martin was presented with a new challenge in Suzuka, as it prepared for Honda’s home circuit.
Expectations had been managed by Honda as it continues to navigate the difficult situation, with Honda remaining transparent about its well-documented struggles.
Aston Martin once again was relegated to the back of the grid in Suzuka, out-qualified by both Cadillacs.
A positive from the race however, was that Fernando Alonso was able to finish, securing the team’s first classification of the year.
But despite the difficult start to the season, Krack has reaffirmed no rift exists between Aston Martin and Honda, revealing fixes made to the AMR26.
“There was no need to make peace because we have a good relationship,” he said to media, including Motorsport Week.
“We came here, we know this is the home race of our partner. We have a lot of respect for Honda and we have seen how much work went in to the issues we are having.
“So it was also a matter of respect for us to try everything we can to finish the race. We discussed that before, as we discuss over the next weeks and so on. There is no need to make peace because there is no issues.”
A question of experimentation for Aston Martin
Krack then revealed that one fix fitted had to be abandoned, but remained hopeful of a step forward in Miami.
“We had some counter-measures here to go further,” he said.
“There was one issue, we tested something in the sessions, which was a small improvement, but we could not race it,” he explained.
“Bringing new parts always brings a risk, so you need to consider that when you make reliability decisions. They were new parts, so we decided not to go into the race with them, but I think it shows some promise.”
“It is a topic we will have to continue to work on with our partner, and I am quite confident that for Miami we can do a step that [means] we are not speaking about it anymore,” Krack added.
![Aston Martin managed its first race finish of 2026 with Fernando Alonso [behind] completing the distance](https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/Aston-Martin-Honda-Japanese-GP-360x180.webp)
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