Honda chief admits F1 absence hurting Aston Martin project

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, Australia, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Honda chief admits F1 absence hurting Aston Martin project

Aston Martin and Honda are struggling thus far

Chris Deeley

Friday 27 March 2026 16:53

Honda boss Koji Watanabe has spoken out about the company's struggles to provide Aston Martin with a competitive F1 power unit this year.

The Japanese company had been winding down their F1 operation when they agreed a deal to supply Lawrence Stroll's team with engines as of this year's new regulations, and Watanabe has admitted that ramping back up has proved troublesome.

Speaking alongside McLaren and Haas team principals Andrea Stella and Ayao Komatsu at the Japanese Grand Prix this week, he insisted that Honda and Aston are working 'as one team' to solve their issues.

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Neither Aston Martin driver has completed a race distance so far this year, with a confluence of issues resulting in violent vibrations in the car which make it undriveable for more than, it currently appears, around 30 laps.

As F1 races are all longer than 30 laps, that is a problem.

Also, the car is slow.

Watanabe: New regulations are challenging for us

Speaking to the media on Friday, Honda Racing Corporation president Watanabe said: “Well, we are starting a new season with Aston Martin Aramco and as you know, we are struggling on track [with] performance at this moment.

“I believe that there are several reasons and the first one is that of course the new power unit regulations is quite challenging for us, and the second one is that we stopped the Formula 1 activities end of 2021 and announced to return to Formula 1 end of 2023.

“During that period, our Formula 1 activities were quite limited, also, it took a bit long time for us to rebuild the organisation to restart the Formula 1 power unit development but now we are working closely with Aston Martin Aramco to not only [improve] technical area, but also overall area, how we can build a strong technical partnership together with them.

“So, Aston Martin Aramco and Honda is not only just F1 constructors and power unit manufacturer, but also we are working closely as one team. In our facility in Japan, the engineer from Aston Martin is really working hard with our engineer in Sakura.”

“I think [what’s] most important is that we can keep moving forward, step by step.”

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F1 Aston Martin Japanese Grand Prix Honda Suzuka Koji Watanabe