Is Honda's new engine enough to save Aston Martin's F1 season?

Formula 1 returns from its summer break with a trip to the dunes for what will be the last Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort for some time after the local promoter has opted not to renew beyond 2026.

With the fight that’s still finding its shape, a midfield in flux, and a circuit whose narrow, banked corners have a habit of punishing anyone who arrives undercooked after three weeks away from a cockpit, the sprint weekend will bring plenty of intrigue.

Beyond the racing itself, Zandvoort carries subplots that will matter well past Sunday afternoon: a power unit change that could redraw the midfield order, a new face in charge of the slowest team, and a circuit about to bow out that has more stories behind it than most fans realise. There’s also the prospect of an unexpected Racing Bulls return for Yuki Tsunoda if Liam Lawson gets the call to stand in for the injured Isack Hadjar at Red Bull.

Here’s what to watch for as Formula 1 heads back to the Netherlands.

What to watch out for: Can new Honda engine bring Aston into contention?

For the first time in 2026, Aston Martin arrives at a race weekend with some sort of momentum.

The team’s fortunes turned in Hungary, where Adrian Newey‘s 16-part chassis overhaul helped Fernando Alonso reach Q2 for the first time this season, while Lance Stroll followed up with a P13 finish on race day, one place ahead of his team-mate.

But that was only half the story.

Days later, at a post-race filming day at the Hungaroring, Honda ran the first version of its power unit updated under the ADUO regulations, giving the team its first look at the package it hopes will finally match the new-spec chassis.

The revised Honda unit is scheduled to make its competitive debut in the B-spec AMR26 at Zandvoort, meaning the Dutch Grand Prix marks the point where Aston Martin‘s two-phase recovery plan – new chassis first, new engine second – is finally complete.

It is a significant moment for a partnership that began disastrously: Honda opened 2026 plagued by battery vibration issues so severe that Alonso and Stroll could barely complete half-distance in races.

Tellingly, similar vibrations briefly resurfaced in Hungary practice, though both team and manufacturer stressed these were not the same issue experienced earlier in the season.

What makes Zandvoort a genuine litmus test is that it strips away the ambiguity of Hungary’s gains.

Alonso himself framed the next round as the real marker, telling reporters after Hungary that Zandvoort, with the power unit update installed, would be a very interesting test of where the team stands and what it can realistically fight for.

There’s a broader subplot here too. Mike Krack, Aston’s chief trackside officer, has spoken candidly about how bad the early-season relationship with Honda became before both sides recommitted to working through it together — a reminder of how close this partnership came to fraying before it had barely started.

If Zandvoort delivers, that story becomes one of recovery. If the new engine reintroduces old problems, or simply fails to add meaningful performance, the pressure shifts back onto Honda.

Either way, Zandvoort is no longer just another weekend for Aston Martin, but the moment the team finds out whether its long-promised turnaround is more than just a jump from the back of the grid to the middle of the midfield, or a real leap that allows it to fight for more meaningful positions.

Who’s under pressure: Cadillac

Zandvoort marks Marcin Budkowski’s first race in charge of Cadillac, and he inherits the only team yet to score a point through the opening half of the 2026 season.

The points drought is not as severe given the American outfit is just 11 races into its F1 existence and no one realistically expected it to fight for points anyway in its rookie season.

What makes Cadillac’s predicament harder is that it has now found itself not only struggling with reliability issues, but also without any rivals to fight with, following the introduction of Aston Martin‘s aforementioned upgrade.

That alone would make Budkowski’s in-tray heavy. What makes it heavier is the timing and manner of his arrival: Cadillac axed founding team principal Graeme Lowdon in the middle of the summer break, a decision CEO Dan Towriss confirmed was his alone rather than a mutual one.

Lowdon had been the face of Cadillac’s build-up since 2024; his removal, barely halfway through the team’s debut season, was framed publicly as a “planned transition” but landed in the paddock as anything but routine.

The timing increases the pressure on Zandvoort specifically.

Until Hungary, Cadillac had at least the consolation of not being alone at the back: Aston Martin‘s horrendous start to 2026 meant the two were often bracketed together in the ‘worst team’ conversation. That comparison no longer holds.

Aston Martin’s 16-part chassis overhaul has already produced a Q2 appearance and, all being well, more points finishes are expected when the new Honda power unit arrives at Zandvoort to complete the picture.

Cadillac, by contrast, is still searching for its first reliability-clean weekend, with Sergio Pérez and Valtteri Bottas both hit by abrupt retirements through the year, the latest example being Hungary, where both failed to finish.

Budkowski, at least, arrives with credentials: spells at Prost, Ferrari, McLaren, the FIA and Alpine give him a technical and regulatory breadth few paddock newcomers can match.

With reliability publicly flagged by Budkowski as “urgent” and Aston Martin now pulling clear at the back, the pressure on Cadillac is no longer about beating a direct rival. It’s about proving, under new leadership, that the team is capable of showing real signs of progress.

Historical highlight: The forgotten names behind Zandvoort’s corners

As Formula 1 says goodbye to Zandvoort – at least for the foreseeable future, with the local promoter opting not to renew beyond 2026 – it’s worth pausing on something most viewers drive past without a second thought: the corners themselves aren’t numbered abstractions. Every one carries a small piece of Dutch motor sport folklore.

Take Tarzan, the sweeping right-hander that starts every lap out of the pit straight and is the scene of most overtakes at the Dutch venue.

Before the circuit existed, the land was a potato field belonging to a local farmer named Maarten Zwemmer, whose wild appearance earned him the nickname among his friends. The corner kept his nickname long after the crops were gone.