Honda is in talks with Aston Martin about a partnership in 2026 and beyond, when Formula 1 switches to a new generation of power plants, The Race writes.
The board of the Japanese group decided to end the program in Formula 1 at the end of 2021, but Honda will continue to work with Red Bull and will supply engines to two teams, Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, until the end of 2025.
But in fact, Honda is taking steps to return to Formula 1 when the new engine regulations come into force in 2026. Last year, the concerns applied to the FIA, and this is official confirmation of the Japanese side’s interest and desire to remain an engine supplier in 2026, after which its representatives began negotiations with several championship teams.
The point is that Honda needs a new partner, because Red Bull has already agreed to cooperate with Ford and now they are going to develop and produce their own new generation of power plants together with an American company. According to The Race, this new Honda partner could be the Aston Martin team, which currently uses modified Mercedes engines.
When there were discussions about the new technical regulations for engines, Honda representatives took part in all meetings devoted to this topic, and at the same time the concern’s specialists were preparing for a promising project, although the number of employees associated with it was relatively small.
However, there is no official confirmation that Honda has indeed made a final decision to return to Formula 1, but sources quoted by The Race predict that it will be made possible in the near future.
Last winter, Honda representatives had preliminary talks with McLaren and Williams, but now they have turned their attention to Aston Martin. The British team is interested in such cooperation, because if the parties agree, it will in the future receive the status of Honda’s priority partner, which until recently was the Red Bull Racing team, which has already won two championships, partly thanks to the Japanese engines.
By the way, in the history of the Silverstone team there was already a period that lasted from 1998 to 2000, when Mugen-Honda had factory engines on their cars. It was also the Jordan team that achieved their best results in Formula 1 at that time: in 1999 they took 3rd place in the Constructors’ Championship.
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
