The Honda car company and the Aston Martin team are starting a new era of their involvement in Formula 1. The Japanese are teaming up with Lawrence Stroll’s stable, which will have the factory support of its supplier available for the first time. Expectations are high, but enthusiasm and optimism are tempered by media speculation.
Aston Martin did not have a successful year in 2025, but the whole team was united in reminding that everything is moving towards the 2026 season. However, further management changes and speculation about the quality of the new power unit cast a dark cloud over the readiness of the Silverstone stable and its winning ambitions.
During Andy Cowell’s departure as boss, there was talk of his conflicts with Adrian Newey, who was eventually appointed as his successor. At the same time, the genius designer should not have been satisfied with Honda’s progress. Is it all true? Well, it’s “just” media speculation, but the first few months of the 2026 season should give an indication of what the true balance of power is.
Head of Honda Racing Corporation Kódži Watanabewho knows Newey very well from the time of their cooperation in Red Bull, indicated in an interview for the official website of Aston Martin that cooperation with a brilliant designer brings high demands. “When we met for the first time after his arrival at Aston Martin, we had a big laugh about meeting each other again,” said the Japanese. “It’s very exciting that he has come. You have to have a lot of respect for him and his abilities.”
“When it comes to powertrain development, we have processes and timelines in place to ensure we create a quality and competitive engine. Adrian does exactly the same for chassis development. We work very closely and communicate intensively to align both areas.” stated Watanabe.
However, he added in one breath that cooperation with Newey brings with it tense situations. “Adrian is one of the people I interact with often. It’s often quite tense exchanges of ideas, suggestions and feedback, but always focused on winning. Whenever we have a technical debate about components or development, we always look ahead with a long-term view of winning.” reminded the head of the Honda project in F1.
“It can be about anything, sometimes it’s a very detailed issue of the proposal, sometimes it’s about competitor analysis, but we also talk about people management or the financial side, because we need to use the funds under the budget ceiling as efficiently as possible.” he added Watanabe.
