Adrian Newey and Fernando Alonso have both been critical of Honda’s power unit at Aston Martin but it seems the tide is turning.

Fernando Alonso’s P16 finish at the United States Grand Prix does not paint the full picture of his race in Austin, with the Spaniard suffering major damage to his Aston Martin following a collision with Alex Albon.

Despite the damage, Alonso showed brilliant racecraft and the 45-year-old was bullish about Aston Martin’s pace once he left the cockpit.

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Fernando Alonso recorded the top speed at the United States GP

Alonso has criticised Honda and pointed out the major horsepower deficit to other manufacturers on the grid.

But in Austin, Aston Martin’s performance in terms of straight-line speed was actually among the best.

As pointed out by F1BigData, no driver recorded a higher top speed than Alonso’s 351 km/h at the Circuit of the Americas.

George Russell, Arvid Lindblad and Franco Colapinto all matched the 351km/h top speed, proving that the Honda power unit was capable of matching speeds produced by Mercedes and Red Bull Powertrains.

Lance Stroll’s top speed was slightly slower at 346km/h, but still a very competitive figure for Alonso’s teammate and a promising sign for Honda.

Adrian Newey can trust Honda to deliver

Aston Martin chief Adrian Newey questioned Honda’s experience during their partnership with Aston Martin.

While Newey’s impressive chassis has helped Aston Martin to be competitive around some tracks, Alonso has mostly been held back by a lack of power.

But Honda have set exciting 2027 targets that include an increase of 50 horsepower for next season’s engine, and their improved performance in Austin should give hope to Newey and Co. that they can deliver.