Honda confirm major upgrade in latest Aston Martin boost

Honda trackside manager and chief engineer Shintaro Orihara has confirmed that the Japanese manufacturer will introduce a major power unit upgrade at this weekend's Dutch Grand Prix.

It marks the latest significant boost for Aston Martin, which introduced its own upgrade package in Hungary ahead of the summer break.

The Silverstone-based outfit shaved off around two seconds with what was effectively a B-spec car, with the real hope being that Honda's upgraded engine can further reduce the gap to the top teams.

Honda has struggled since the start of the new power unit regulations, with its engine lacking reliability and power.

It hopes to make a real step forward with the first upgrade as part of the Additional Development Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO), although it would not confirm how much lap time is expected to be found.

Discussing whether the engine upgrade will make up the rest of Aston Martin's deficit to the top teams, Orihara told select media, including RacingNews365: "It's a good question, but I can't explain how much of the gap we can reduce with this upgrade. 

"But as I mentioned, in Formula 1, we should be realistic, so we can't bring the magic update, but we believe we've brought some good steps with this upgrade. So we have a gap to the top teams, but in Hungary, Aston Martin brought a big update... 

"Every 50 milliseconds or 100 milliseconds, it is very important to improve our position, and I believe our upgrade can bring that type of improvement in lap times."

In an additional boost for Aston Martin, Orihara revealed that it does not expect to face any penalties this weekend following the introduction of the new engine, but that its next major power unit upgrade will not come until 2027.

Asked if there will be another engine upgrade this year, Orihara replied: "This is the only major update for this year.

"But if we find something, a good solution to improve our performance by a small modification, that can be on the table. But [the next] major update will be in 2027."

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