The Japanese brand has spent the last six seasons as Red Bull’s powertrain partner and found success thanks to Max Verstappen’s trio of drivers’ titles, but has renewed its efforts for 2026 as Aston Martin becomes its factory team.
With its knowledge of developing V6 internal combustion engines that meet current rules, Honda has instead chosen to focus its main efforts on fixing the electrical infrastructure. This turns into a near 50-50 split between ice and electric power backed by a 350 kW MGU-K, while the turbo-mounted MGU-H has been omitted from the new ruleset.
This differs from Red Bull’s approach with its own in-house powertrain project, which is now in partnership with Ford as it splits from Honda at the end of 2025; Red Bull started by developing an all-new ICE from scratch.
“So far everything is going according to plan. Of course we can’t go into details, but everything is in line with our own expectations,” explained HRC President Koji Watanabe in an exclusive interview with Autosport .
“We are initially focusing on the electrical aspect of the motor, so now we are mainly focusing on the electric motor parts and the battery.
“This work is entirely in line with our own objectives. At the same time, we are of course developing the thermal engine, but at this stage, it is not yet a V6. It is now a single-cylinder.
“So far everything is going according to plan. Of course we can’t go into details, but everything is in line with our own expectations.”
Koji Watanabe, CEO of Honda Racing
Photo by: Motorsport.com / Japan
Although Honda officially left F1 as a full-fledged factory powertrain supplier at the end of 2021, it retained its partnership with Red Bull through its HRC racing division and continued construction of its current powerplant after a regulatory freeze.
Watanabe explained that a large number of Honda staff members were transferred to other projects after the partial exit after 2021, necessitating a series of new hires to strengthen its new 2026 project.
HRC has also registered a new company in the UK, with the aim of servicing and preparing new 2026 specification powertrains for Aston Martin, although the location is still to be determined. American company HRC USA (formerly Honda Performance Developments), which leads the brand’s IndyCar engine project and Acura’s IMSA efforts, will also be involved.
“When we announced that we would stop our F1 activities, most of the engineers left the F1 department. All important engineers were transferred to other projects, including Honda Mobility,” Watanabe said.
“As a result, we have had to refill all of these positions, even though they are not entirely the same people. Some people are still the same, but for other positions it has been a little more difficult and it took at least a little time.”
“We recorded the [HRC UK] company, but we have not yet decided on the exact location. We registered mainly because we want to hire staff in the UK.
“It takes time because sometimes you have to deal with a period of gardening leave. That’s why we want to start hiring staff in England this summer and we’ve already signed up.”
