Do you recall Fernando Alonso’s GP2 engine comments for Honda at the Japanese GP? Honda has had a huge history of building top-of-the-line engines across various divisions of motorsports, and F1 was no different. However, the new hybrid regulations in 2014 caught Honda out. It was only in 2019 that Honda was able to catch up and match the other front-running engine suppliers, and it is now arguably the best one on the grid. 

With the 2026 engine regulations closing in, Honda has decided to establish a strong foothold in Europe, building a new site close to Laurence Stroll’s $240 million new Aston Martin facility that is being built. This comes after Honda announced its partnership with Aston Martin last year, which will see the Japanese manufacturer exclusively develop engines for the British team starting in 2026. Honda announced its departure from F1 and Red Bull in 2021 but came back after F1 released the new engine regulations.

In 2026, the power distribution ratio between the internal combustion engine and the battery will be equal. However, as Honda decided to leave F1 before the comeback, a lot of staff was laid off and transferred to other divisions. As a result, the Japanese manufacturer needs to hire personnel again, and for the same reason, it has registered itself in the UK to aid with the hiring process. A new factory in the UK is also proposed, which will be closer to the Silverstone-based Aston Martin factory compared to the present, where Honda develops the engine in Sakura.

Speaking about the registration in the UK and the new factory, Honda Racing Corporation’s President Koji Watanabe told Motorsport, “It’s just a company now, called HRC UK. We have registered the company but have not yet made a decision about the exact location. We mainly signed up because we want to hire staff in the UK. Those things need time because sometimes you have to deal with a period of gardening leave. That is why we want to start hiring staff in England this summer and have already registered ourselves.”

The 2026 regulations will be the first time in over a decade that F1 will introduce such a major change to the engine regulations, and therefore the team started engine developments only last year. And despite currently being Red Bull’s supplier, Honda has taken a different approach to Red Bull’s 2026 engine development.

Honda’s 2026 Engine Development Direction Opposite to Red Bull’s

Last year, rumors came in suggesting that Red Bull’s internal combustion engine for the 2026 regulations is behind Mercedes’ prototype and is 10 horsepower down. Regardless, while other teams have been very secretive about how their development is going regarding the 2026 engines, Honda has come out to openly suggest what their development direction is and what approach they’re taking.

Koji Watanabe said, “So far, everything is going according to plan. Of course, we can’t go into too much detail, but everything is in line with our own expectations. We are initially focusing on the electric side of the motor, so our focus is now mainly on the electric motor parts and the battery. This work is fully in line with our own objectives. In parallel with that, we are of course developing the internal combustion engine, but in this phase that is not yet V6. It’s still about a single cylinder.”

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