Honda’s concerning F1 2026 admission is bad news for Aston Martin

Honda have admitted that “not every little thing goes properly” with their return to F1.

After technically leaving F1 on the finish of 2021, the Japanese producer is making a full-scale comeback this yr as a part of an unique energy unit collaboration with Aston Martin.

There may be large pleasure and expectation surrounding the tie-up with some tipping Aston Martin and Honda to be a probably championship-winning mixture underneath F1’s regulation reset in 2026, notably given the involvement of legendary designer Adrian Newey.

However Honda Racing’s president Koji Watanabe has moved to downplay expectations forward of the marketing campaign.

“Given the uncertainty surrounding rival producers’ progress, it stays a battle to see how shut we are able to get to our personal self-imposed targets. Frankly, we nonetheless want extra time,” Watanabe informed Japanese publication Sportiva.

“We’re advancing growth by incrementally assessing efficiency beneficial properties from integrating varied parts. Some show profitable, others fail unexpectedly – it’s a combined bag.”

Watanabe went on so as to add: “To be trustworthy, not every little thing goes properly, so there are numerous areas the place we’re struggling, however nothing deadly has occurred that we can’t overcome.

“On this scenario, we’re quietly concentrating on enhancing efficiency and reliability.

“Aston Martin additionally desires to maintain constructing vehicles that replicate Adrian’s imaginative and prescient, so I believe the subsequent step for us on the ability unit aspect is to determine easy methods to adapt to that.

“If doing so will increase our competitiveness and makes us extra more likely to win, then we’ll do no matter it takes!”

It’s the newest concern to emerge from the Aston Martin-Honda partnership.

Stories over the winter have urged that Honda missed a trick with a rule loophole concerning the brand new 2026 engines that might hand a key benefit to rival producers Mercedes and Crimson Bull Powertrains.

It’s believed that Mercedes and Crimson Bull Powertrains will have the ability to unlock extra efficiency by attaining the next compression ratio than rivals suppose the laws allow.

There have been different claims about Honda’s 2026 engine being behind the curve in comparison with its rivals and that not all has gone easily behind the scenes at Sakura.

The 2026 Honda engine can be unveiled throughout an occasion on 20 January.