2026 Engine Regs stuff and potential engine manus / team partnerships.

[Ruslan]

Bottom post of the previous page:

Yes, I have to keep reminding myself that F1 is about to get bigger and better as I watch the Red Bull's drive away with another championship or two or three.

[Aty]

Maybe Honda will partner with Porsche?

It appears Porsche is performing just fine without Honda or RBR.

03/05/2023
Porsche AG has posted a highly successful start to its first year after going public. In the first three months, both Group sales revenue and Group operating profit rose by more than a quarter.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Aston Martin to ditch Merc in favour of Honda engines rumour in 2026 is starting to gain momentum.

Gazetta in Italy are now going as far as to say an announcement will be made at Monaco to confirm......
We know Honda have always said never say never, and also signed up as an extremely interested party for 2026 when we all thought they were gone. They are it seems quite keen to explore the electrical avenues F1 seem to be exploring more of,, plus the 100 % sustainable fuel that is targeted to be stipulated by 2026


Excuse the google translation.....

Honda returns to F1 from 2026: it will whiz the Aston Martin

Honda's absence from F1 will be short-lived. From 2026 the Tokyo House - which currently continues to give external support to Red Bull - will return to the GPs first hand, supplying its engines to Aston Martin. A press meeting is scheduled for today, with the official communication postponed until tomorrow, to announce - this is what filters from sources close to the Hrc - the presence of the Japanese giant in F1 from 2026 to 2030 at least. That Honda wanted to return was a poorly kept secret, linked to the new technical regulation which provides for an identical ratio (50%-50%) between the electrical and thermal power of the power units in three seasons to reach around 1000 horsepower. Fundamental exercise of the current market, with the increasing electrification of road models and more.

https://www.gazzetta.it/Formula-1/23-05 ... 2026.shtml


Im not convinced but who knows what the next days will bring in terms of announcements. Shame Alonso will likely not be part of the Aston equation by 2026..... after all Alonso and Honda had a pretty lets say disrespectful relationship in their mutual McLaren Honda (GP2 Engine) days

[Everso Biggyballies]

An old article from last year to remind us of some of the engine stuff part of the new regs.....

.More efficient, less fuel, and carbon net zero – 7 things you need to know about the 2026 F1 engine regulations

[Everso Biggyballies]

Aston Martin to switch to works Honda F1 power in 2026 **CONFIRMED**

Well the rumours that were re Aston ditching Mercedes in favour of Honda from 2026 are true and same has been confirmed today as hinted.
Aston Martin and Honda have announced they will join forces for the 2026 Formula 1 season.

Aston Martin will become the Japanese marque’s ‘works’ team in what is, currently, an exclusive supply arrangement.

Honda will develop the power unit, with the Silverstone operation in charge of chassis design and the day-to-day running of the team.

“The Aston Martin Formula 1 team and Honda share the same spirit, and together we will take on this new challenge,” Koji Watanabe, President of Honda Racing Corporation, told select media, including Speedcafe.

“In this project, HRC [Honda Racing Corporation] will design and manufacture the power unit, optimised for Aston Martin’s F1 chassis configuration, and supply it to them.”

It marks a significant deviation for Aston Martin which has been a Mercedes customer since 2009, when it was known as Force India.

Aston Martin CEO, Martin Whitmarsh, noted the “incompatibility” with Mercedes given its customer supply agreement and the team’s F1 ambitions.

“Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant is building a team to win in Formula 1,” he said in the same media call.

“Over the last 18 months, I think we’ve been recruiting the right people.

“We’ve been investing in the required facilities and developing the right culture, and processes to win. We know, however, that we need strong partnerships.

“It’s a great opportunity to partner with a global motorsport titan like Honda as a works team.

“This is an extremely exciting and important further step for the team.”

Honda has confirmed its interest in continuing in Formula 1 into the next generation of regulations, set to be introduced in 2026, despite initially looking to step away from the sport in 2020.

Currently supplying Red Bull, that relationship will continue until the end of 2025.

Ironically, Honda’s decision to leave the sport triggered discussions that will see the Milton Keynes squad brings its engine programme in-house and link up with Ford.

Honda powered Red Bull to championships in both 2021 and 2022, and holds a dominant position atop the constructors’ championship after five rounds so far this year.

The Aston Martin-Honda partnership has been rumoured for some time, with it arguably the most attractive team not aligned with a manufacturer in a factory sense.

It has made strong strides forward this season with Fernando Alonso having secured four podiums from the opening five races.

Off track, the team has built an expansive new factory with a brand new wind tunnel set to come online midway through 2024.

Honda meanwhile has remained involved in discussions surrounding Formula 1’s next generation of power units.

While it has slimmed its workforce over the past 12 months, the expertise that developed the current Honda engine was redeployed onto other projects within the organisation.

It also remains active in building and servicing power units for Red Bull.

https://www.speedcafe.com/2023/05/24/as ... -f1-power/



OK so that means now six of its 10 teams are set to be run engine wise as factory / works operations for 2026, up from the four at present;..... Ferrari, Mercedes, Red Bull (Honda), and Alpine (Renault).

Who what where of what 2026 will bring....

For 2026, Red Bull will develop its own power units, albeit possibly with Ford branding and input. So in effect making it a factory (RB owned) team like Ferrari Alpine or Mercedes.

Audi will be in after taking a stake in Sauber Motorsport which will see the Sauber rebranded in future seasons.

So that leaves just Williams, Haas, AlphaTauri, and McLaren as customer operations for one of those six engine suppliers.. Potentially, well certainly under the current teams structure of 10, that will mean some works engines wont have a customer team in the same way as Alpine dont have a customer team at the moment. (and arguably Honda dont either although the RBPT/Honda relationship is certainly very Honda assisted.

AT will (as long as RB continue to own them) carry on as what I would call a works RBPT team. Possibly with Ford badges on them.

Same with Haas and Ferrari, who I suspect will continue as what I would refer to as a Ferrari Satellite.

Williams and McLaren are currently with Mercedes. Both have engine contracts expiring pre 2026 (ie end 2025). They have both indicated they are undecided / "evaluating options".

One would suspect due to recent history McLaren Honda wont happen again! Williams Honda though? Has an air of deja vu. As does Williams Ford.

Will Audi actively pursue customer engine deals.

[Everso Biggyballies]

The reason behind AM looking away from Mercedes at other options....... Aston Martin Group CEO Martin Whitmarsh has stated that a "growing incompatibility with Mercedes has led to Aston Martin’s desire to seek self-reliance and form a power unit partnership with Honda in 2026."

The call to drop Mercedes ends what will eventually be a 17-season partnership between the teams, stretching back to 2009 when the team was owned by Veejay Mallya and known as Force India..... before morphing into Racing Point and currently Aston Martin.

All part of Lawrence Stroll's wishes to emulate Mateschitz and have ownership of 'the next Red Bull'. If a works Honda deal worked for Red Bull it will work for Aston Martin and magically make them World Champions.... right? Adrian Newey might like a word with LS.....

The reality is this alleged incompatibility is to me more a desire for independence. They didnt seem that incompatible when they got sprung for what was known as the pink Mercedes.

More from Whitmarsh.

“But this is about the growing up of this team. You set out to win in Formula 1, and that means beating existing partners, and in order to do that, we’ve got to be independent. They feel they cant beat Mercedes when they are reliant on Mercedes is their thought. (they dont seem to be doing a bad job atm though)

“We’re building great, great facilities, and we’re progressively pulling away from our dependence upon Mercedes Benz.

“That’s no reflection on them. They’ve done a fantastic job for us, they continue to do a great job for us but we’re here to beat them, and that means we’ve got to be self-reliant.”

[Aty]

And I (almost) believed boasting that AM will compete with their own PU in 2026. Excursion into the super factory, showing off, look at us, tada, etc.
The same with RBR. They trumpeted having their own PU, yet Ford claims their technical partnership extends beyond a simple advertising campaign.

So, dear RBR/AM, are you or aren't you building your PU on your own steam, or do you like to talk but walk is too much to bear?

Things seldom are what they appear to the naked eye. Bul...t is everywhere.

[Everso Biggyballies]

And I (almost) believed boasting that AM will compete with their own PU in 2026. Excursion into the super factory, showing off, look at us, tada, etc.
The same with RBR. They trumpeted having their own PU, yet Ford claims their technical partnership extends beyond a simple advertising campaign.

So, dear RBR/AM, are you or aren't you building your PU on your own steam, or do you like to talk but walk is too much to bear?

Things seldom are what they appear to the naked eye. Bul...t is everywhere.

RBR(PT) are building the engines for the Red Bull teams. They may be badged as Fords but like in the Cosworth DFV days, Cosworth built the engines with Ford badging on the cam covers..... Ford put the money up for Cosworth for develop the DFV. It was a commercial arrangement. There is nothing secret or misleading in that.

The confusion with Honda and Red Bull currently is that RBPT have with Honda's blessing taken over and are using the Honda IP and also many of their staff to produce in effect their version of a Honda engine. Honda clearly still have an involvement to protect their IP. In effect RBPT are building Honda engines under licence which allows them to be branded as RBPT. We all know underneath the badges are basically Honda developed engines with the over rider some Honda staff involved are now on the RB payroll..

Another example would be the Porsche engine they built for McLaren in the turbo era. Built by Porsche but badged TAG Heuer by commercial arrangement. TAG put the money up to develop the engine.

With Aston Martin the engines will be totally built and developed by Honda, with I would suggest Honda badging on the engines. They will build the engines and send them to AM.

[Aty]

Honda may or may not (probably they will) built engines in Japan, but PU assembly will be done at Honda's facility in close proximity to their client, which make sense on many levels.

Now we know what Honda will be doing, question is, what is AM's role in this story? I swear I heard them to claim not too long ago they will be building their own engines. Honda's label didn't come up at all in those claims.

I wonder if Honda has in their contract a clause making certain that Mr. Alonso will be leaving. They certainly had enough of him in recent memory. New speculation involves Yuki (or some new face from Japan) to shuffle across, which would also make sense. Replacing (old man) Alonso and his experience is not going to be however easy.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Max says the RB loss of Honda as a partner is a shame

Speaking ahead of this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix, Verstappen said it was "a bit unfortunate how all of that turned out," referring to Honda's U-turn.

He said he had "loved working with [Honda]," adding that "for Aston Martin, it's really good."

Max said: "I think from our side, of course, it's a bit unfortunate how all of that turned out because a few years ago, they say we're gonna stop, so then Red Bull sets up its own engine division, and then at one point they say no, we continue.

"Unfortunately, once you're already in the process of building a whole engine yourself, you can't really work together anymore. It's a bit of a shame, I would say.

"We always have and had a really good relationship with them, and then seeing them go to Aston Martin is a bit of a shame."

"But I mean, we are also very excited from our side from 2026 onwards to see what's going to happen together with Ford.

"It is what it is. A few years ago, we thought Honda were gonna leave, (but) now they stay and they go with Aston Martin.

"For Aston Martin, it's really good, they have a great engine, we all know that. So it is what it is."

Why the Honda U-turn?

I dont see anything sinister in it at all. When Honda initially decided to pull out of F1 engine supply (to RBR) it was before the new engine parameters for 2026 were formalised. F1 engine wise was in a different place. F1 was an increasingly irrelevant course to the way the core (road) automotive industry was moving.... continuance to rely on exotic fuels and impractical and complex (in road terms) hybrid focussed direction with minimal electrification, so they bailed.....

Then F1, following pressure from the other manufacturers and the addition of potential new ones (ie Audi / Porsche) and the future regulations are formed in a manner more relevant to automotive reality..... more focus on electrification, 100% sustainable fuels etc. The likes of Audi and Ford want in along with Mercedes, Ferrari and potentially others and the sudden realisation from Honda is that F1 is itself doing a U-turn on its non electrification focus and locking in plans to be highly road car relevant to the point they needed to be seen in.

By this time Red Bull had formulated their own future without Honda for their power plant and invested heavily. They looked at Porsche but that was too restrictive for them. RB were by now too far down the track, and with financial backing from Ford, to require Honda. Honda decide they need to, from their own position, remain in the peak of automotive technology, F1, and have to find a partner. F1's apparent rise in world and US popularity would have been an influence.

McLaren was still a bitter recent memory so in Aston Martin they have an ambitious, very financial and willing to invest in the future, in staff and facilities, an in effect a privately owned operation to partner with. And to boot a team on the up and looking to be more than a customer team to Mercedes.

A perfect fit for Honda and no doubt an opportunity that could evaporate while they procrastinated.... the same way as a future with Red Bull fizzled out.

It seems also that as things are Honda are happy to go into the post 2026 F1 new engine era with no customers, just Aston Martin as a works partner. So they are not looking to provide engines to any third party team, not Williams, McLaren or other engine 'customers'.

[Aty]

I think FiA will have last word if Honda will be mandated by regulations to supply engines to other teams. The same applies to Audi and every other engine manufacturer. And yes, I do agree there is nothing sinister about Honda returning to the F1. Renault has done it, so did Mercedes. If I would have however to say 1 [ml] of critique of them, then perhaps they are changing their mind more often than others. No harm is done, but it impacts customer's team planning. I am personaly happy they are back. I would like to see Toyota on the grid as well.

[Everso Biggyballies]

I think FiA will have last word if Honda will be mandated by regulations to supply engines to other teams. The same applies to Audi and every other engine manufacturer.

They need at least two new teams for that to even be possible. We will have on current knowledge 6 engine suppliers to 10 teams. Simple maths says it cant work to have your mandate of even one additional team beyond their own team be supplied.

In essence to mandate every F1 engine manufacturer two new teams must be found, and those teams will be told whose engines they must use..... or at best be given a choice of 2, with the last one to decide having to take the 'unwanted' / leftover engine. Like choosing the short straw.

[Everso Biggyballies]

Interesting statement from Horner today about the RBPT Do it yourself engine programme which indicates that the Honda U-turn caught them out and indeed affected / influenced decisions.


Horner: Red Bull wouldn't have created own F1 engine had Honda stayed

Christian Horner says Red Bull would “absolutely not” have established its own Formula 1 engine programme had it known Honda would return to the championship for 2026.

As we know Honda announced its withdrawal back in 2021 befor a bit of a back flip, presumably to safeguard their own IP which was inherited 'on loan' in a way, from Honda. Ultimately the world knew the engines RBPT were planning to build following the Honda exit, and thus had RBPT messed them up it somewhat would sully the Honda reputation. So enter Honda in a limited but ever increasing role, with their involvement extended towards. the end of the life of the Hybrid programme ahead of 2026..

It obviously came as a shock to RB when Honda threw their hat in the ring even as a potential PU manufacturer in the post 2026 new era. Of course then it was more a place setter to give Honda options.

By this time RBPT were well down the path to self sufficiency..... expanded Engine factory, investment in machinery and particularly staff, some on loan or seconded from Honda themselves. They were too committed not to continue......

....And then Honda confirmed their full return in 2026. Honda knew by then the Red Bull partnership was beyond retrieval. RB had announced a tie in with Ford.

Now it seems that had RB known then what they know now, RB would have most certainly been entering 2026 with a Honda engine rather than their own home brew with a Ford badge and finances to aid their development. Yes they had outgrown being a customer team, but would realistically have been better off, as Aston Martin have done, becoming the works Honda team with Honda funded and developed engines.

I guess it shows that biting the bullet early doesnt always work out. Red Bull now, like Mercedes Renault (Alpine) Ferrari, have to do it on their own, albeit with financial help from Ford. A huge operation required, huge investment in resources and staff, and overhead costs.

It will be interesting come 2026 to see if Red Bull jump in at the required level of reliability and power. I guess throw enough money at something and the chances are good. But Mercedes Ferrari etc are automotive manufacturers with pretty unlimited resources. Red Bull Racing is an offshoot funded largely by cans of fizzy drink.

Horners closing comment..... “Well it was certainly an expensive decision! Was it the right one? Time will tell..

[Everso Biggyballies]

McLaren lock in Mercedes as engine partner until 2030

McLaren have extended their deal to use Mercedes engines until 2030. That takes them into the new engine regulations, which are due to start in 2026.

Useless Trivia fact.....McLaren won the 2021 Italian Grand Prix with a Mercedes engine – the most recent win for any customer team in F1.

Anyway, yes, McLaren have gone for continuity and stability after their faux pas dropping Mercedes engines for Honda and then McLaren before returning to Merc in 2021.

McLaren therefore become Mercedes’ first customer for the new 2026 regulations,

[Everso Biggyballies]

We are all well aware Honda are returning in 2026 as an engine supplier in their own name with the announcement that Aston Martin will be running Honda engines from 2026.

Honda USA to contribute to 2026 F1 power unit for Aston Martin

With the rumours in Indycar rife, and indeed threats from Honda suggesting they will likely / possibly / maybe no longer build Indycar engines, Honda have today confirmed a name change of. their US Honda Performance Development, now renamed Honda Racing Corporation USA, This was due to a new refocussing and wider Honda US involvement in Honda's Global Motorsport and a closer involvement with HRC Japan..

They have also confirmed the HRCUSA set up will contribute to the development of the new Formula 1 power unit that will be raced by Aston Martin from 2026.

Honda says that “with three F1 races now in the US, the new HRC US will be involved in F1 power unit development and race support starting in 2026”.

Any R&D contribution from the US side will have to fall under the auspices of the FIA’s power unit financial regulations that accompany the new spec engines that will be raced from 2026, and which came into force on 1 January this year.

In other words, work undertaken on the F1 project in the USA will have to be fully accounted for within the power unit cost cap, and will correspondingly reduce the amount of resource that can be deployed by HRC Japan.

“The team and I here at HRC US are excited and humbled to embark on this next racing adventure,” said HRC US president David Salters.
You can only feel immensely proud to be joining our companies and amazing people together to make one global racing organisation, HRC Honda Racing.

Speaking in September, HRC Japan president Koji Watanabe stressed the benefits of bringing the two operations closer together.
“Our goal is to increase the HRC brand and sustain the success of our racing activities, and we believe that uniting Honda motorsports globally as one racing organisation will help achieve that,” he said.

“Our race engineers in the US and Japan will be stronger together, and I am so happy to welcome our US associates to the HRC team.”

[Aty]

FIA’s single-seater Director Nikolas Tombazis revealed the Formula 1 power unit regulations will evolve in a direction that keeps them relevant to what OEMs require.

https://www.grandprix247.com/2024/01/07 ... ant-to-do/

That settles that question. It makes sense keeping OEM interested, and the F1 also benefits from common cause. There is no turning back to yesteryears.