The development of the new engine for Aston Martin is progressing steadily alongside Honda. The power brand, which is due to supply the power unit for the British team in 2026, has explained that the project is at an advanced stage. Honda’s option is to take advantage of every last moment to continue optimising engine performance before homologation.
Development of the Aston Martin power unit
Tetsushi Kakuda, head of the entire F1 Honda Racing project, explained that the engine unit that Aston Martin must use in 2026 has already reached “a reasonable stage”. Honda’s decision to wait to formalize the homologation until February of the coming year is part of a strategy to extend the development time; “Our goal is to present the homologation in February of next year. As we started a little late, we want to keep going until the last moment,” Kakuda explained in a statement reported by ‘Motorsport’.
Without giving figures on the percentage of progress of the power unit, the Japanese engineer said that they have reached a fairly advanced stage in the development process. The most important challenge is to adapt to the new regulations of 2026, when the rules will be radically changed in the hybrid formula; “In terms of how we manage high-speed combustion, fuel-related factors also come into play. The environment is changing drastically, and things will not work the same as before,” Kakuda explained. Despite certain complexities, Honda is working to create an environment where combustion is faster and more efficient.
The relationship between Honda and Aston Martin intensifies
With the intention of consolidating the relationship with Aston Martin, Honda has created a new HRC headquarters in the United Kingdom, located in Milton Keynes. This facility allows them to work more closely with the team run by Lawrence Stroll and, at the same time, accelerate engine development. The relationship between the two parties is fundamental to the progress of the project, although Honda prefers not to reveal certain aspects. “I can’t reveal the timing with Aston Martin, but there are key moments when both parties have to finalize the essential homologable components. It is up to us to coordinate everything with them and define when we each want to make our final decisions and, from there, establish the schedule,” Kakuda said.
The location of the HRC headquarters in Milton Keynes is no coincidence. In this same place Honda was present during the years of collaboration with Red Bull until the energy drink brand took possession of the facilities to set up its own engine department. Now, the Japanese firm has decided to reclaim this base to strengthen its new partnership with Aston Martin.
2026: a fundamental challenge for Aston Martin and Honda
The regulatory change of 2026 will bring with it a significant change in power units and also in single-seater cars. Since January 2, 2025, teams have been able to officially undertake the development of their new cars, which means that every day counts in fine-tuning the competitiveness of their respective projects; Honda and Aston Martin are working against the clock to ensure that their powertrain is at the level of the competition during that year. Honda’s tactic of waiting until the last moment to announce the homologation could make all the difference to the performance of its V6 turbo-hybrid engine.
In 2026 the collaboration between Honda and Aston Martin could be one of the most promising of the next era of Formula 1: the British team and the Japanese manufacturer are ready to take the leap and compete with the most dominant teams in the championship.