Honda will continue to supply power to Formula 1 when the rules change for the 2026 season, but will partner with a new racing team.
On Tuesday evening, Honda and Aston Martin announced that Honda Racing Corporation will design, develop, manufacture and supply powertrains to the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant racing team for the 2026 Formula One season. According to Honda, it believes that the powertrain technology will have the potential to be applied to production vehicles.
Aston Martin will be responsible for designing the rest of the car. Aston Martin currently uses Mercedes-Benz powerplants, while Honda supplies the leading Red Bull Racing team and AlphaTauri with powerplants.
“One of the main reasons we decided to take on the new challenge in F1 is that the top form of racing is striving to become a sustainable series, which is in line with Honda’s drive towards carbon neutrality. it becomes a platform that facilitates the development of our electrification technologies,” said Toshihiro Mibe, Honda CEO.
F1 adopts new resource rules for the 2026 season. The fuel will be 100% carbon neutral, and the electric motor component will provide three times the power of today. Formula 1 is working with Aramco, Saudi Arabia’s national oil company, to develop the fuel and plans to have it ready in time for the season.
Under the new rules, F1 cars will use a turbocharged 1.6-liter V-6 hybrid configuration, which is the current setup. The new power unit does away with the MGU-H engine generator, which recovers exhaust gas energy through the turbocharger. The MGU-K engine remains, recuperating power from the rear brakes, though it will make 469bhp versus today’s 160bhp, up from around 20% of the 50/50 with the engine. One of the keys to performance will be the battery, which should be able to deliver high power quickly. Overall, power will still be around 1,000bhp, but with the increase in electric power, fuel consumption will drop from around 220lb today to 154lb.
F1 rules also impose a cost cap on the engine’s internal combustion component, reduce dynamo time and limit each car to three engines per season.
