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The story
TOSPO reports that with the Spanish GP race just two days away on the 13th, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso erupted in anger at Honda’s power unit (PU) during free practice on the 11th. After his radio message — “I can’t keep up with the other teams with this engine” — made the rounds, 5channel’s Geinou/Sports Breaking News+ board lit up with comments like “Feels like a thread from ten years ago” and “Here we go again with the ‘GP2 engine’ line,” reviving memories of the McLaren-Honda era back in 2015. Others pointed out that the clutch trouble was actually down to Aston’s own transmission and not Honda’s fault, while some argued that in F1 the car matters more than the driver — opinions were split.
TOSPO WEB
Published 9/12 (Sat) 9:55
Fernando Alonso (Spain) of Aston Martin, competing in the Spanish Grand Prix (race on the 13th), erupted in anger at Honda’s engine during free practice on the 11th.
Source: news.yahoo.co.jp / Read the original article here
What people said
You never hear tennis players going 'I can't get any pace with this racket!'
That's because in F1 you don't get to pick your own gear — it's handed down from above with a "no exceptions" attached.
In tennis the player is the star, but in F1 the car is the star —
especially these days. The driver's just along for the ride.
Tsunoda finishing 10th kind of proves it —
people say nowadays in F1 it doesn't matter who's driving, it all comes down to the car's performance (lol)
I've never felt more ashamed to be Japanese than I do today… (orz)
It's a marketing disaster too —
spending 150 billion yen a year just to trash the company's own reputation? Are they masochists or something?
"What is this, a GP2 engine!?"
and it's been over ten years since that line.
Honda has already said flat-out that they're giving up on this season and won't push any major updates, so this is probably Alonso's way of making a statement about that.
Word is Honda's aiming for the start of the 2027 season, but Alonso doesn't even know if he'll still be racing next year, so he's putting everything into this one~
That's why he's leaning on Honda, knowing full well the radio message would go public.
it became slow because Alonso got in it.
Every team he's joined was doing fine before he showed up, and their results dropped once he arrived.
That's just the fact of it — the guy has terrible luck.
https://news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/7aee74df6d00addef0ffd9b17a433213421a2c14
don't tell me they hired Korean staff for the race engine design too, on top of the mass-market car designers?
A lot of Honda engineers moved over to Red Bull (or more accurately, they just stayed put when Honda pulled its program).
Audi probably poached talented engineers from Mercedes, Honda, and even Renault — pretty impressive that they're running mid-pack right out of the gate.
Honda doesn't really treat F1 as a place to win — more like a training ground for junior engineers.
The lead engineers who were there until last year are probably long gone by now, so of course they can't compete. No wonder [Adrian] Newey is losing it too.
In horse racing they say it's 70% horse, 30% jockey — what's the car-to-driver ratio in F1?
9:1.
Whoever's got the fast car wins.
F1's rules have always been built to favor Ferrari —
Honda being at a disadvantage hasn't changed in fifty years.
Honestly, at this point you can only feel sorry for Alonso —
same story as the McLaren-Honda days.
Honda always gets serious only after Aston Martin drops them,
just like it did with Toro Rosso back in the day.
Might as well think of Alonso's remaining races this year as test runs for next season.
So the gap really comes down to the car.
Thanks for the info.
I've had enough of Hamilton and Alonso.
Isn't it called F2 now?
Doesn't have the same ring to it though.
Say something already.
The usual "well, actually it's probably Aston's fault" excuse doesn't really work this time.
They're apparently trying to use their F1 power unit know-how for a rocket launch business —
the tech for extreme weight reduction, compactness, and boosting output is supposedly transferable.
It's actually the opposite —
Aston Martin is the one looking to switch to another manufacturer's engine next season, and it's Alonso who's smoothing things over by saying he'd rather stick with Honda.
Background and key points of this discussion
Honda ended its power unit supply to Red Bull after the 2021 season, then returned to F1 in 2026 as Aston Martin’s sole works partner. This isn’t the first time Alonso and Honda have clashed — during the McLaren-Honda era of 2015-2017, his radio complaint that it was a “GP2 engine” became infamous, and much of the thread’s reaction plays off that memory. Regarding this latest outburst, some posters pointed out that the clutch-related trouble stemmed from an issue with Aston Martin’s own transmission rather than Honda’s power unit itself, while others speculated that Honda is skipping major upgrades this season to focus its development resources on the new 2027 regulations — though it’s worth noting these are all thread speculation rather than official statements. Rumors are also circulating that Aston Martin will switch to a Mercedes power unit next season, but that remains unconfirmed.
*This article is compiled and summarized from the 5channel (Geinou/Sports Breaking News+) thread “[F1] Alonso Furious at Honda Power Unit: “I Can’t Keep Up With the Other Teams With This Engine”.”
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