Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe has openly acknowledged that Honda’s Formula 1 power unit is currently behind its rivals, explaining that delayed development, limited resources and the decision to build an entirely new engine contributed to Aston Martin’s difficult 2026 season. Watanabe also insists that the relationship between Honda and Aston Martin remains strong, despite both the chassis and power unit still requiring significant improvement.
Expectations surrounding the Aston Martin-Honda project were understandably high. Adrian Newey was involved in developing the car, Aston Martin had invested in a new factory and Honda returned as an official works power-unit partner. Yet the results have fallen short of those expectations, creating uncertainty over exactly where the main problems lie.
Motorsport.com Japan travelled to HRC Sakura, Honda’s Formula 1 power-unit development base, to speak directly with Watanabe about the situation. The interview was conducted exactly one week before it was announced that he would leave his position at the end of the year, with current vice-president Keiichi Yasuda scheduled to become president from 1 January.
Koji Watanabe admits Aston Martin-Honda season has been harder than expected
Watanabe did not attempt to hide the scale of the challenge facing Honda and Aston Martin.
“Looking at this season, I think you can only describe it as difficult. It is something I have said many times, but with new regulations, a new team, new fuel and oil, and new drivers… everything is new.”
“We also approached the challenge with great ambition, and that has not changed, but the situation is more difficult than expected.”
Despite the disappointing start to the project, Watanabe stressed that Honda cannot abandon the goal of eventually winning: “However, we must not lose the attitude of wanting to win, and towards the objectives we have set ourselves we have to keep improving, even if only a little at every race, while making efforts that lead towards the future. That is what I think right now.”
Is the Honda F1 power unit really behind its rivals?
The performance picture has often been difficult to interpret from the outside. At times the Aston Martin has appeared particularly difficult to drive in onboard footage, while its drivers have also complained about a lack of power.
Watanabe was therefore asked directly whether the Honda power unit is inferior to the engines produced by rival manufacturers.
His answer was unusually clear.
“Judging by the performance levels measured by the FIA for ADUO purposes, I think we are clearly inferior to the power units of the other manufacturers.”
“Of course, we cannot know the exact figures of the rival power units, so that is assuming we trust the FIA’s numbers.”
The Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities system has become particularly important under the current engine regulations because it gives manufacturers that fall sufficiently behind the benchmark additional scope to develop their power units.
Honda’s deficit has already been a major focus during 2026, with Honda’s recent engine progress and planned work at Sakura forming part of its attempt to close the gap.
Honda specification 2 reached its target but created drivability problems
Watanabe confirmed that outright power remains the primary weakness identified by both Honda and the Aston Martin drivers.
“The drivers are saying it as well, but the most important thing is that the power is lower than the others. Because of that, with power unit specification 2, we were aiming to gradually increase the power that was missing.”
Honda succeeded in reaching the output target it had set for that specification, but the changes also affected the behaviour and drivability of the engine.
“With specification 2, we achieved the power we had targeted, but we slightly changed the way combustion works and other aspects, and as a result the drivability returned to a feeling similar to the early stages of specification 1.”
Honda therefore found itself having to balance greater peak performance against the way that performance was delivered to the driver: “In that area, both from the hardware side and the control side, we can improve if we have time. “Even while fighting through a difficult period, we have been able to confirm that the drivability is improving. However, we are still lacking power. That is what we need to improve.”
Watanabe says Honda lost almost two years of F1 development
The size of Honda’s deficit is particularly striking considering that the manufacturer had been capable of fighting for world championships with its previous-generation Formula 1 power unit.
According to Watanabe, the fundamental problem can be traced back to the timing of Honda’s new programme.
“I think, ultimately, the starting point was the delay in beginning development.”
Honda had continued basic Formula 1 research after reorganising HRC as a racing development company, meaning F1 development never completely stopped. However, when Honda formally announced its return in 2023, rebuilding a complete development organisation took longer than expected.
“By turning HRC into a racing development company, we continued to keep the F1 flame alive, including through basic research. So F1 development never went down to zero.”
“However, when we announced our return in 2023, we should have quickly built up the development structure, but that took time.”
Honda prioritised battery and electric motor development first
Watanabe explained that Honda effectively lost close to two years compared with manufacturers that committed to the new rules earlier.
“The fact that we made the decision to return one year later than the others, together with the time required to establish the development structure, meant that in practical terms we lost almost two years.”
Faced with limited resources, Honda chose to prioritise the electrical side of the power unit first.
“In that situation, we decided to focus first on developing the battery and electric motor, which require time, and I think we achieved our targets in those areas.”
“But that meant development of the ICE, the engine, was delayed.”
Had Honda been able to start with a fully staffed operation, Watanabe believes resources could have been divided between the electrical systems and the combustion engine simultaneously.
“If we had been able to start development from the beginning with a complete structure, we could have distributed resources between the electrical side and the engine.”
“But at the beginning we were short of personnel, so we started development on the electrical area first and then concentrated on the engine.”
Honda attempted to recover the lost ground but eventually encountered further restrictions.
“We continued development to catch up, but then we ran into the budget cap and the limit on working hours, and in the end we were unable to recover the delay.”
Why rebuilding Honda’s Formula 1 engineering team took so long
Another major obstacle involved personnel. After Honda’s previous Formula 1 involvement ended, many engineers were transferred into carbon-neutrality and advanced-technology projects from 31 March 2022.
When Honda decided to return, it was not simply a matter of moving all of those people back immediately.
“Of course I cannot give numbers, but after the end of our participation in the fourth era, many of the engineers who had worked on F1 were transferred, from 31 March 2022, to development departments for carbon neutrality and advanced technologies.”
“When we returned to F1, it was not enough simply to bring all of those engineers back. We also hired people mid-career and brought in personnel from other departments.”
The difficulty was that many former F1 engineers had subsequently taken on important roles elsewhere within Honda.
“However, each of the engineers who had worked in F1 held important positions. Therefore, it was not easy to bring them back into F1 development.”
“There were also handovers that had to be completed in each position. So it is true that it took quite a lot of time before everyone was brought together.”
Watanabe described the quality of the Formula 1 engineering group as exceptionally high.
“The engineers involved in F1 development, if they move into other departments, are almost all people at project-leader level. In any company, I don’t think it is easy to move people at that level.”
Honda chose to design a completely new F1 engine
There was another significant reason why Honda’s 2026 power unit did not simply inherit the competitiveness of the previous generation: Honda decided not to base the new engine directly on the unit it had used through 2025.
Even before the season, Watanabe had indicated that Honda was aware it could be behind its rivals. Speaking at an HRC event at the Kyoto Railway Museum late in the previous year, he had said that the objective was to avoid falling too far behind from the outset.
Asked what Honda expected at that stage, Watanabe said the manufacturer never believed it was in a comfortable position.
“It is difficult… Regardless of whether they were accurate or not, we had information about our competitors, including rumours. Taking that into account, I never thought we were in a comfortable position.”
“Even then, we were aware that we might be behind in terms of power. However, it is also true that I did not expect such major problems to emerge in terms of drivability.”
Rather than developing the new unit from the engine that had competed through 2025, Honda chose a clean-sheet approach.
“I don’t know what the others did. But as far as we are concerned, there was definitely the fact that we wanted to change a lot.”
“We did not develop the engine based on the one used until 2025; we created a new engine. I think there were several difficulties there.”
Honda had compared the potential of evolving its previous design with beginning again from a new foundation.
“To reach the target figures we had set ourselves, we evaluated whether it was better to base it on what we had until 2025 or not. And so we carried out the development starting from a completely new base.”
Honda sees more performance potential after ADUO upgrades
Honda’s first ADUO development was aimed at increasing power, while the second included an updated turbocharger intended to improve drivability.
Although a deficit to the leading manufacturers still remains, Honda believes its performance is improving and that the current architecture still offers substantial development potential.
The scale of Honda’s challenge has also been reflected in independent analysis of Aston Martin’s recent performance, including how the team has attempted to compensate for the Honda power deficit through other areas of the package.
Is Aston Martin’s relationship with Honda under pressure?
Honda’s struggles have naturally affected Aston Martin as well, and rumours have circulated that the British team has explored contact with other power-unit manufacturers.
Watanabe nevertheless rejected the idea that the difficult season has damaged the relationship between the two organisations.
“The objective has been the same from the beginning. At every level, we have no choice but to strengthen the partnership properly, and we both understand that this is precisely what is being tested.”
“Therefore, I think the relationship is becoming even stronger.”
The rumours surrounding Aston Martin’s engine future have included unconfirmed reports that Ferrari was considered as a possible alternative, but no switch has been officially confirmed.
Watanabe says both Aston Martin chassis and Honda PU have problems
Rather than blaming one side of the partnership, Watanabe said both Aston Martin and Honda recognise that significant work remains.
“We discuss very openly how to increase the competitiveness of the power unit and chassis as one car, what is currently behind… what the problems are and what measures are necessary to solve them.”
“Both the power unit and chassis still have many problems. It is not the case that one side is perfect.”
“The attitude of decisively improving both has not changed at all.”
For Watanabe, deeper technical integration between Aston Martin and Honda will be essential if the project is to become competitive.
He pointed out that Honda has faced similarly difficult periods with previous partners, including Red Bull and McLaren, before eventually overcoming those problems.
“I think the important thing is to raise even further the perspective of building a single car. I believe that accumulating these steps will lead to an improvement in competitiveness in the future.”
Aston Martin and Honda need to operate more like one team
Formula 1’s current technical complexity means chassis and power-unit integration has become more important than ever. Although the two components are designed by separate companies, Watanabe believes Aston Martin and Honda need to collaborate at a deeper level.
“The chassis and power unit are produced by different companies. In that context, I think it is important to move development forward by collaborating at a higher level.”
“With time, by maturing as one team and deepening our mutual understanding of how each side works, the speed and efficiency of development should improve further.”
“As a result, I think the overall level of the car will be raised.”
Watanabe also noted that difficult beginnings are not new for Honda.
“We have always struggled up to now as well. We simply overcame those difficulties with time.”
Aston Martin car was taken to HRC Sakura for joint testing
One example of the increasingly close relationship came after the Japanese Grand Prix, when the Aston Martin chassis remained in Japan and was taken to HRC Sakura for testing.
Watanabe said Aston Martin personnel continue to work alongside Honda staff at the facility.
“One example I often mention is that we brought the actual car here, to HRC Sakura, after the Japanese Grand Prix to carry out tests… even now there are Aston Martin staff members at Sakura.”
“I think this means that a mentality and perspective aimed at increasing competitiveness as one car has been created.”
Honda admits full integration will still take time
Watanabe does not expect the Aston Martin-Honda partnership to reach its maximum level of integration immediately.
The priority is first to establish a reliable and competitive enough foundation before taking the next steps.
“I think it will still take a lot of time before this reaches 100%.”
“But we have to make sure that we can race properly next year. I think that, first of all, is the important thing.”
Honda’s position is therefore clear. The manufacturer accepts that its power unit currently lacks performance, acknowledges that the programme started too late and recognises that the decision to build a completely new engine added further complexity. At the same time, it believes the architecture still has significant development potential and that closer integration with Aston Martin can gradually turn the project into a more competitive package.
Leave a Reply