Honda "would like to pursue" supplying powertrains outside of Aston Martin "if opportunity arises"

After a long powertrain partnership with Red Bull Racing, Honda is moving to Aston Martin for the 2026 Formula 1 season on the turn of the regulations. But while it has no immediate plans to expand its customer base, it isn't ruling out the idea if someone comes knocking at the door of the Japanese company.

The 2026 regulation changes will see a substantial change in the cars. They will be 30kg lighter, 10 cm narrower, and feature active aerodynamics with moveable front and rear wings. But the major changes come in the shape of a new powertrain design. The internal combustion engine output will drop to approximately 400kW, but the electric power output will be increased considerably from 120kW to 350kW. This means the power split, for the first time, will be almost 50/50 between electric and internal combustion engine power.

These changes aren't going to be easy, but Honda, which has registered formally as a supplier of the 2026 engines, has reached a "considerable stage" according to Tetsushi Kakuda, the man in charge of the F1 project at Honda Racing Corporation (HRC).

"We are aiming to submit the homologation in February next year - since we had a slightly late start, we want to push forward until the very last moment.

"It's difficult to say exactly what percentage of progress we have made, but I believe we have reached a considerable stage.

"Regarding how we handle high-speed combustion, fuel-related factors also come into play. The environment is changing drastically, and things will not work the same way as before.

"However, for a gasoline engine, the eternal goal is to burn fuel as quickly as possible. We are currently building an environment to achieve something similar."

For now, Honda remains entirely focused on establishing a strong and healthy relationship with Aston Martin, according to Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Motorsport Corporation. But the organisation isn't closing the door to any opportunities that may come its way.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Alastair Staley / Motorsport Images

"We are a racing company. If the opportunity arises to supply powertrains to multiple teams, we would like to pursue it.

"We are not fundamentally ruling anything out," Watanabe reiterated. "Our main focus at the moment is to build a strong cooperation with our factory partner Aston Martin.

"At this point in time, we have no plans to supply our engines to multiple teams and are not at that point yet."

Honda's partnership is exclusive with Aston Martin, transforming the Silverstone customer team into a team with a works engine. Red Bull - and Racing Bulls - will therefore use their own powertrains created in partnership with Ford.

"We are currently supplying several teams with drives, and when the situation stabilizes and it becomes possible, we should consider expanding in this direction," Watanabe said. "However, this is not currently actively part of our planning. Kakuda himself has also asked us to allow him to fully concentrate on the current project."