Honda hints Aston Martin was not it’s first pick for exclusive 2026 supply deal

Honda was forced to look for a new partner after Red Bull declined its offer for a new supply partnership for 2026.

Honda hints Aston Martin was not it’s first pick for exclusive 2026 supply deal

Fernando Alonso (via IMAGO), Honda logo (via Honda)

Japanese carmaker Honda will officially return to Formula 1 with Aston Martin in 2026. The autogiant will exclusively supply its power units to the British team. However, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) President Koji Watanabe has revealed that there had been talks with other teams.

Honda had left the sport after 2021 as Red Bull’s partner, though it remains involved with the team under the HRC banner. This deal will end with the onset of the 2026 rules as Milton Keynes partners with Ford. Watanabe acknowledged that the Japanese carmaker first tried to discuss a possible reunion with the Austrian team when it planned to make a comeback on the grid.

In the first part of the process, there were only conversations between Honda and Red Bull.

Koji Watanabe told Motorsport.com
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After Red Bull declined Honda’s offer and shifted focus to its in-house power units division, Honda started search elsewhere. Koji Watanabe claimed that the carmaker held talks with multiple teams after officially registering for the 2026 regulations in November 2022. The decision to align with Aston Martin was made after these discussions.

The discussions with other teams started after we officially registered ourselves with the FIA as a power unit supplier for 2026. That was in November 2022. Then some other teams contacted us, as they were interested in working with Honda. We talked to those parties and made a decision.

Koji Watanabe explained

Honda refuses to give hint over failed talks

Watanabe made it clear that he could not mention the number of teams he held conversations with. Though, he emphasized that there were “several” squads willing to bring Honda onboard. Some of these discussions were quite brief, while some led to multiple meetings. He did not reveal the name of any team either.

Fernando Alonso (via Getty)
Fernando Alonso (via Getty)

I cannot give you the exact number, but several teams. With some of those, we’ve only had contact once, and some others we’ve met several times.

Koji Watanabe stated

Honda recognized the commercial rise of Formula 1 in recent years. The Japanese carmaker does not want to lose its chunk of the pie from the sport’s success. However, the autogiant must provide Aston Martin a competitive power unit to avoid a repeat of its last F1 return in 2015.