London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Wednesday, Oct 15, 2025

Honda to return to F1 as Aston Martin engine partner

Honda to return to F1 as Aston Martin engine partner

Honda is to return to Formula 1 in a formal capacity in 2026 as engine partner for the Aston Martin team.

The company officially pulled out of F1 at the end of 2021 but its engines are still used by the two Red Bull teams and are called Hondas again in 2023.

Honda said on Wednesday that F1's pursuit of carbon-neutrality by 2030 was the "key factor" behind its decision to re-enter officially.

New rules for 2026 will increase the electrical performance of F1 engines.

The sport's governing body the FIA is mandating the use of fully sustainable synthetic fuels at the same time.

Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe said: "In pursuit of its goal in achieving carbon neutrality by 2030, starting in the 2026 season the FIA will mandate the use of 100% carbon-neutral fuel and the deployment of electrical power will be increased significantly by three times from the current regulations.

"With this massive increase in electrical power, the key to winning in F1 will be a compact, lightweight and high-power motor with a high-performance battery that is capable of swiftly handling high power output as well as the energy-management technology.

"We believe this know-how gained from this new challenge has the potential to be applied directly to a future mass-production electric vehicle."


What is behind Honda's change of approach?


F1 has used hybrid engines since 2014 but the new rules will make significant changes in their layout.

The biggest is the removal of the MGU-H, the part of the hybrid system that recovers energy from the turbo, and a significant increase in the proportion of hybrid power in the engine's power output.

Watanabe said: "Currently, the electrical power accounts for 20% or less compared to the internal combustion engine.

"But the new regulations require about 50% or more of electrification, which moves even further toward electrification and I believe the technology for electrification will be useful for us in producing vehicles in the future."

The use of carbon-neutral fuels and their integration into the engine, he said, also "matches with Honda's direction".

Watanabe said the extension of F1's cost cap to cover engines was also a factor in the decision as it made "long-term and continuous participation in F1 easier".


Why not continue with Red Bull?
Max Verstappen leads the F1 standings by 14 points five races into the 2023 season


Honda has won the last two drivers' championships with Red Bull and Max Verstappen and added the constructors' title last season. The pairing is well on course to repeat its title double in 2023. Red Bull have dominated the start of the season, winning all five races so far.

Red Bull has decided to build its own engine for 2026, and has formed a partnership with US giant Ford to invest in and badge the power-unit.

Aston Martin, who finished seventh in the championship last year, have made a huge step forward in competitiveness in 2023 and lie second in the constructors' championship behind Red Bull before this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix.

Their driver Fernando Alonso is third in the drivers' championship, behind Verstappen and his team-mate Sergio Perez.

Aston Martin's progress has come after a major investment and restructuring programme in the past five years that includes the building of a new factory, which is due to open before the end of this month. A new wind tunnel is also under construction and due for completion late in 2024.

Watanabe said that Honda and Aston Martin's F1 team "share the same spirit".

Martin Whitmarsh, the group chief executive officer of Aston Martin Performance Technologies, said: "Aston Martin is building a team to win in F1. We have been recruiting the right people and investing in the required facilities and developing the right culture and processes to win.

"To partner a global motorsport titan like Honda is an extremely exciting and important further step for the team. Both organisations share the same relentless ambition to succeed on track. We are very proud, honoured and grateful to put in place this partnership."

Whitmarsh, who was instrumental in bringing about Honda's return to F1 in 2015 when he was CEO and team principal of McLaren, added that "2026 will require full integration of chassis and power-unit that only a full works team delivers".

He added: "It's very clear from what we've seen from Honda and our recent learnings, they have a huge passion, they want to win, that is what they want to do, and that is our goal. We are already confident this is going be a fantastic partnership for the future."

The partnership will mean the end of Aston Martin's arrangement with Mercedes, from whom the team buy a large part of the rear of their car, including engine, gearbox and suspension.

Whitmarsh admitted that taking on the manufacture of the gearbox and suspension was "a big challenge but an essential one for us in stepping up".

Watanabe said that Honda had no plans to supply any other teams "for the moment".


What about drivers?
Fernando Alonso is third in the drivers' standings after four podium finishes in five races this season


Alonso joined McLaren in 2015 to be part of the Honda project but the team and engine company split after three uncompetitive years. In that time, Alonso's relationship with Honda frayed, partly because of some public criticisms of the engine by the two-time champion.

But Watanabe said that driver choices would be "fully up to the team" and Honda had "no objection" to working with Alonso again.

Alonso is in the first season of a two-year deal with Aston Martin. He turns 42 in July and would be 44 by the start of Honda's partnership with the team.

Whitmarsh said: "Honda are a very great partner for us. Fernando sees that. Probably 2026 is outside his planning horizon at the moment. We have to give him a car that can consistently win races.

"We have made a reasonable step forward. We are not yet where we need to be but we will get stronger. We will have a discussion before 2026, I'm sure, about where Fernando's future lies.

"I hope he'll be around for a number of years and it'd be great if he's as fit and competitive as he is today. Then it would be fantastic to have him in the car in 2026 as well."

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
×