Formula 1 CEO Stefano Domenicali has hailed Honda’s power unit agreement with Aston Martin as vindication of its new, sustainability-focused regulations.
It means that there will be at least six factory teams from 2026, namely the Red Bull/Ford partnership, Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari, Audi/Sauber, Alpine/Renault, and now Aston Martin with Honda.
The latter is currently tied to Red Bull Racing, and Scuderia AlphaTauri, and while it had announced its exit from F1 at the end of 2021, an agreement was ultimately reached to continue to build and service power units for ‘Red Bull Powertrains’.
The deal with Aston Martin, however, is confirmation of its ongoing involvement in the category, in a greater capacity than at present.
“It is great news for Formula 1 that Honda will partner with Aston Martin to supply power units from 2026,” said Domenicali.
“This is further evidence that our global platform and growth provides brands with huge potential, and it also shows that our plans to move to sustainable fuels in 2026 is the right approach to offer the automotive world alternative solutions to decarbonise the planet.
“We can all see the incredible commitment Aston Martin has made to our sport and we can’t wait to see the exciting partnership in action, and I want to congratulate both parties on this exciting news.”
Aston Martin, through its various guises, had been a Mercedes customer since 2009, with Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh citing “incompatibility” with the German marque and the competitive imperative of independence as keys to the decision to split.
Its new engine relationship could conceivably lead to Fernando Alonso driving a Honda-powered car again, but there are “no objections” from its motorsport chief Koji Watanabe despite some acerbic criticisms from the Spaniard during his latter stint with McLaren.
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