Honda says it’s impossible for the company to supply the 2026 Formula 1 power unit to Red Bull if the company’s engine program reaches a failure.
Red Bull and Honda first joined forces in 2019, with the partnership bringing four consecutive driver titles and consecutive constructor championships from 2021-24.
However, their long-standing relationship will be over this year. Red Bull was forced to build its own engine from scratch in 2026 after Honda’s initial decision to withdraw from Formula 1.
Modern power units are extremely complex and Red Bull will become the first non-manufacturer team to design and build their own hybrid engines in F1 through the Red Bull Powertrains division.
We have secured Ford’s services as a partner, particularly to help build the MGU, but there are still questions about how competitive and reliable the initial power unit is.
Can Honda and Red Bull reunite their F1 engines?
We asked about rumors that Honda could intervene as a fallback option. If Red Bull’s project faded, the president of Honda Racing Corporation firmly closed the possibility.
“That’s absolutely impossible,” he said as Webb. “Even if we were asked to do it now, it would be too late to make it in time for 2026. There’s no chance.”
Honda announced it would permanently leave F1 in 2020, but ultimately made a U-turn on decisions encouraged by new 2026 regulations focusing on electrification and sustainability.
By the time Honda recommended it to Formula 1, Red Bull had already invested heavily in the new powertrain division, so Honda instead signed a factory contract with Aston Martin.
Development work is already underway to integrate Honda’s new engine with Aston Martin’s 2026 car. This includes gearboxes designed in-house by a Silverstone-based team.
Watanabe said he was pleased with how the two teams are working together as tests were conducted in both the UK and Japan to finalize the 2026 engine and gearbox specifications.
“Of course, it’s a power unit for testing, not the final specification,” he explained. “The latest products from that time are combined with each other during the testing stage, and will be tested in the UK and Japan.
“We don’t test at the same time. When we do that in Japan, we do it only in Japan. Not only are we tested, but people who exist at the same time, and HRC staff and Aston Martin staff are working together and have already done multiple tests.
“The gearboxes produced by Aston Martin are gradually approaching the final version and will continue to test them.”