Honda Racing Corporation is changing leadership of its Formula 1 power unit development programme.
From October 1, Yoichiro Fukao, currently Assistant Large Project Leader and Head of the Software Division, will take over as Large Project Leader from Tetsushi Kakuda, who has led the programme so far.
Honda described the change as a planned transition designed to pass on technical expertise to the next generation of engineers, rather than a response to disappointing results on track as supplier to the Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team.
With further F1 regulation changes expected from 2027, the manufacturer wants a settled structure in place early and Fukao has plenty of experience.
He joined Honda in 2002, working on the F1 project from the start on engine and gearbox control systems.
He became Deputy Leader of the F1 Project in 2017, a role he carried over to Honda Racing Corporation in 2022 when the programme moved under the HRC banner.
The change lands as Honda’s power unit performance shows early signs of turning a corner, after a difficult start to the 2026 year.
Issues with power unit and chassis issues compounding each other, with Aston Martin fewest laps of any car across pre-season testing and reliability problems with the Honda power unit persisting well into the campaign.
Honda’s spec 2 power unit, developed under the outgoing leadership, made its competitive debut at the Heineken Dutch Grand Prix in August.
Fernando Alonso finished ninth at Zandvoort in the car’s first race with the new specification, only the team’s second points finish of the season after the Spaniard’s 10th place in Monaco.
The team suffered another poor weekend at the TAG Heuer Spanish Grand Prix at the MADRING, Alonso finishing 17th at his home race, with team-mate Lance Stroll retiring for the 10th time this season.
“Today’s result isn’t what we wanted, but we need to look at the learnings and improvement points that we can take forward to future races,” said Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s Trackside General Manager and Chief Engineer.
“Over the past three races we’ve improved the driveability of our spec 2 power unit, which was introduced at the Dutch Grand Prix.”
“By reducing the driveability issue, we can now focus on the performance side.
“This weekend, for example, we changed some calibrations to improve this aspect and session-by-session we saw some good signs in the data. This shows us all that we are working in the right direction.”
Fukao takes over a programme that is improving but still mid-development, with the clock already running on the current rules before Honda’s next power unit has to be built for 2027.
