Few manufacturers have a deeper – or more cyclical – relationship with Formula 1 than Honda.
From its first factory team in the 1960s to championship-winning power units in the hybrid era, the company has repeatedly used F1 as the ultimate testbed for engineering philosophies that later influence its road-car strategy.
That pattern continues in 2026 when Honda returns as engine supplier for the Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team.
The incoming power-unit regulations, with their equal split between electric and combustion power and an enforced switch to fully sustainable fuels, closely mirror the technological shift Honda is pursuing across its wider business.
For a company investing heavily in electrification, energy-efficiency and cleaner propulsion systems, the next era of F1 is less a marketing exercise and more a rolling R&D platform.
That is why sustainability sits at the heart of Honda’s return. Advanced sustainable fuels, new lubricants and a dramatic jump in electrical output all feed directly into the brand’s long-term innovation agenda. For Honda, F1 is once again a proving ground for the next generation of mobility technology.
“Our technical cooperation agreement with Aston Martin Aramco extends far beyond the power unit,” Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Racing Corporation, said as part of an UNDERCUT interview.
“Going to a 100 percent advanced sustainable fuel is important for the sport and has wider implications for achieving a sustainable world. As a global manufacturer of passenger cars, achieving carbon neutrality is a very important issue for Honda.
“Alongside our cooperation with Aston Martin Aramco, we have another with Aramco and Valvoline. We are working very closely together to develop both cutting-edge sustainable fuels, but also cutting-edge lubricants.”
The partnership with Aston Martin is built on integration rather than simple supply. Engineers from both sides are already embedded, working through the challenges of 2026 – vastly increased electrical power, the removal of the MGU-H, and an energy-management puzzle that will define competitiveness early in the cycle.
Central to the project is an engineering culture the two organisations believe they share. Watanabe is clear that the relationship is becoming deeper and more unified as the programme accelerates.
“The relationship between the engineers is very strong now, but my expectation is that it will improve and intensify the deeper we get into the project,” he said.
“For the moment, we’re not considering supplying any other teams. We want to concentrate on winning with Aston Martin Aramco.
Koji Watanabe
“The common ground at the start was this winning spirit, and talking to Lawrence (Stroll, Aston Martin F1 owner), or any of the leadership team at the AMR Technology Campus, there has always been this feeling of being one team.
“For the moment, we’re not considering supplying any other teams. We want to concentrate on winning with Aston Martin Aramco.
“In the longer term, the ultimate goal of this partnership, and our definition of success, is winning the world championship. We are sharing a common vision; we are on the eve of something very special.”
