Honda to join forces with Aston Martin from 2026

Ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix, Aston Martin has today announced that it will be entering into a works partnership with Honda from the 2026 F1 season onwards.

Honda returned to the sport in 2018 when it started supplying powertrains to Toro Rosso (now Scuderia Alpha Tauri) in 2018 before moving up the ladder to supply engines to Red Bull Racing in 2019.

The partnership culminated in a world championship in 2021 when Max Verstappen secured his first title in the Honda-powered Red Bull Racing car with the success repeated last year when the Milton Keynes-based squad clinched both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championships.

The announcement also means that Aston Martin’s long-time partnership with Mercedes is set to come to an end. The Anglo-German manufacturer has been the engine supplier of the Silverstone-based team since 2009 with the partnership set to continue until the end of the current power unit era. It means that Aston Martin will use the Mercedes-developed power units, plus the gearbox and rear suspension until the end of 2025.

“One of the key reasons for our decision to take up the new challenge in F1 is that the world’s pinnacle form of racing is striving to become a sustainable racing series, which is in line with the direction Honda is aiming toward carbon neutrality, and it will become a platform which will facilitate the development of our electrification technologies,” said Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe.

“Honda is a company that has a history of growing by taking on challenges and winning world-class races. With the new 2026 regulations, the key for winning will be a compact, lightweight, and high-power electric motor with a high-performance battery capable of handling high and swift power output, as well as the energy management technology.

“We believe that the technologies and know-how gained from this new challenge can potentially be applied directly to our future mass production electric vehicles, such as an electric flagship sports model, and electrification technologies in various areas, including eVTOL which is currently under research and development.

“Honda and our new partner, the Aston Martin F1 Team, share the same sincere attitude and determination to win, so starting with the 2026 season, we will work together and strive for the Championship title as Aston Martin Aramco Honda.

Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll said: “We share a mutual drive, determination, and relentless ambition to succeed on track. Honda is a global titan and its success in motorsport is longstanding and incredibly impressive.”

Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Racing Corporation – the racing division of Honda which will run the project – added: “In the midst of major changes in our business and the motorsports environment leading toward the transition to a carbon neutral society, we have re-established HRC as an optimal platform to sustain and further evolve motorsport activities as a Honda strength. We will establish sustainable operational structures for our racing activities and continue to deliver more dreams and excitement for motorsports fans all around the world.”

Group CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies Martin Whitmarsh added: “The new 2026 F1 power unit regulations are a huge and important change, but one which we are confident we can navigate successfully together. Jointly with our strategic partner Aramco, we can look forward to open collaboration towards a common goal.

“Our future works partnership with Honda is one of the last parts of the jigsaw puzzle slotting into place for Aston Martin’s ambitious plans in Formula 1. Finally, I would like to pay tribute to our current power unit supplier who we will continue to partner with for the next few seasons.”