The Mexican Grand Prix held this weekend promises to be one of the most demanding tests for the new Formula 1. For the first time, these hybrid cars without the MGU-H will face the extreme altitude of Mexico City, which will put the turbos under maximum pressure. And some teams already fear the worst.
The first team is Aston Martin. According to Shintaro Orihara, the head of competition for Honda, they are considering reducing the power output of Fernando Alonso’s engine. The reason is that they fear the turbo pressure could be so exaggerated that it ends up causing a failure that leaves them with a less powerful engine.
Orihara fears Honda’s turbo could explode at altitude
Competing in Mexico has always been a unique challenge for Formula 1. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez sits around 2,240 meters above sea level, which makes it, by far, the highest circuit on the calendar. The thinner air affects crucially both engines and aerodynamics.
If we add to that the fact that 2026 will be the first year in which Formula 1 engines go to Mexico without the massive energy-recovery system MGU-H, the situation verges on panic: many teams fear their turbos might fail under excessive pressure. And Honda sits at the forefront of these concerns.
Orihara explained that “only at idle did we rely on the MGU-H to achieve enough boost pressure, but this year we have no assistance whatsoever, not even in those conditions.” It is known that Honda had the best MGU-H in the grid, and its removal has been a hammer blow for the Japanese marque.
So Orihara asserts that “we have carried out numerous tests on the power bank and we believe the impact on engine operating conditions is minimal or almost zero, but that must be verified during the tests.” In other words, until Friday at Honda there will be no certainties about how to proceed.
Just in case, Orihara prepares for the worst and states that “it is possible that we may have to apply some restrictions on engine operating conditions, in the worst-case scenario. It poses a full challenge both the turbo lag and the engine’s operating conditions.” Cuts that would not help an engine already lacking power.
The only consolation is that, predictably, all brands will have to shave some power in order to ensure reliability.
Images | Aston Martin, Honda
