Honda to power Aston Martin F1 team in 2026

Aston Martin is currently having its best season in Formula One. Apart from runaway points leader Red Bull, the team has been regularly on the podium in the majority of the races so far. On the constructors' standings, they are even six points ahead of Mercedes, their engine supplier.

But come 2026, Aston Martin will no longer have Mercedes engines powering their F1 cars. Instead, the British team has entered a works partnership with Honda and will be known as the Aston Martin Aramco Honda F1 Team.

This comes after Red Bull previously announced they are partnering with Ford for 2026, which left Honda searching for a Formula One team after committing themselves to the sport following the upcoming regulation changes.

The rules in 2026 suggest the V6 hybrid power units have reduced engine output while tripling the output of the energy recovery system (ERS), which recovers kinetic energy under certain situations such as braking, and converts it into electrical energy. This will result in maximum power output that is roughly even between the engine and motor. Furthermore, the use of 100% sustainable fuel is also required, which fits Honda's goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030.

What's worth noting is that both Aston Martin and Honda have their connections with Red Bull. As the title sponsor of the drinks company in the past, Aston Martin came up with the Valkyrie hypercar that was developed with the help of Red Bull's Adrian Newey. On the other hand, Red Bull continues to use V6 power units developed by Honda but is renamed Red Bull Powertrains or RBPT.

Like Red Bull who will use Honda engines until 2025 before switching to Ford, Aston Martin will continue to use Mercedes customer engines until the new regulations take effect in 2026.

Now that Aston Martin is about to have the latest title-winning engine in F1, it will be interesting to see who will drive for the outfit in 2026. The Honda partnership just made the Aston Martin seat a very attractive one in the driver market. Will Fernando Alonso continue until 2026? Or will we see some shocking driver swaps in the future? Let us know in the comments.