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When Fernando Alonso previously worked with Honda earlier in his Formula 1 season, he didn’t hide his feelings about their engine.
Fernando Alonso reached the nadir of his F1 career during his second spell at McLaren.
The two-time world champion went through three seasons without a podium before quitting F1 altogether to explore his other racing dreams, before returning to the sport with Alpine in 2021.
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Alonso then made the switch to Aston Martin, and in 2026, they will partner up exclusively with Honda as Formula 1 introduces a brand new ruleset.
Infamously, Honda were McLaren’s engine partner during Alonso’s time with the team, and he regularly voiced his concerns with their power unit.
However, it seems as if their relationship has been mended, although Ralf Schumacher believes Honda still holds a grudge against Alonso for his previous comments.
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During the 2015 Japanese GP, while racing for McLaren, after being overtaken by Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber, Alonso said on the team radio: “It feels like GP2. Embarrassing. Very embarrassing.”
Those comments would have stung at Honda’s Japanese base, although they quickly showed Alonso and the rest of the F1 world that they were more than capable of producing a quality engine.
Honda’s partnership with Red Bull was pivotal to Max Verstappen becoming a four-time world champion, and Aston Martin will be desperate to replicate that success.
A report from Grada3 has shared more details about the partnership between Honda and Aston Martin.
Although some people in the paddock believe the distance between Honda and Aston Martin’s factories is a ‘clear weakness’, they suggest that the time difference means they can work around the clock on their power unit.
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Aston Martin have engineers working permanently in Sakura, while Honda have personnel based in Silverstone to try and achieve the best result possible.
Red Bull rejected an offer to continue working with Honda, and Koji Watanabe’s company are believed to have chosen Aston Martin due to their state-of-the-art facilities alongside the influence of Lawrence Stroll’s ‘key role’ in negotiations.
On top of this, Grada3 reports that Alonso is a ‘key player’ in Honda’s transition to working with Aston Martin.
The Japanese manufacturer are ‘well aware of his demanding nature, his technical expertise, and his influence within the team,’ highlighting how important they realise the 44-year-old is to their joint success.
If they had any concerns about Alonso’s commitment to the project, he wouldn’t be playing such an integral role in the development of this year’s power unit.
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There’s a reason why Alonso is seen as such an important asset to Aston Martin and Honda heading into next season.
Last year, Alonso outqualified his teammate, Lance Stroll, during every Grand Prix qualifying session.
Max Verstappen was the only driver to achieve the same feat, and even after Alonso’s constant misfortune at the start of the season, he still outscored the Canadian by 23 points.
Guenther Steiner has suggested Stroll wouldn’t beat Alonso even if he’s 50 years old, highlighting the difference between their ability levels.
It’s a concern for Aston Martin chiefs that if they are as competitive as they want to be, then they may only have one driver capable of extracting the full potential out of an Adrian Newey-designed car, powered by a Honda engine.
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