Honda's Watanabe on Newey partnership and Aston Martin's 2026 focus

Honda Racing Corporation's Koji Watanabe has detailed the intense, performance-focused collaboration with Adrian Newey as the Japanese manufacturer and Aston Martin forge their new partnership for the 2026 Formula 1 season. Watanabe's comments highlight a shared philosophy centered on winning, from technical details to team management, as they aim to build a championship-contending project from the ground up.

Why it matters:

The union of Honda, a recent championship-winning power unit supplier, with Adrian Newey, F1's most successful designer, at Aston Martin represents one of the most anticipated technical partnerships of the new regulatory era. Their ability to integrate seamlessly and maintain a unified front will be critical in determining whether the team can transform its potential into consistent race-winning performance and challenge the established frontrunners.

The details:

• Watanabe describes frequent and "quite intense" communication with Newey, with all discussions—whether about design, competitor analysis, or finance—oriented toward a single goal: winning.
• This aligns with recent driver comments, where Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll noted Newey's singular focus on performance over other team principal duties.
• Newey will take on the role of Team Principal at Aston Martin in 2026, a new challenge for the design legend, requiring a broader management perspective.
• Watanabe stresses the importance of being "one team," built on trust and respect with partners, a lesson forged through Honda's varied F1 history which includes both championship glory with Red Bull and difficult periods like the McLaren partnership from 2015-2017.
• He acknowledges Formula 1 can be a "cruel business" where poor results can strain relationships, making the maintenance of that core trust vital for long-term improvement.

The big picture:

Honda and Newey are not new collaborators, having enjoyed immense success together during their time with Red Bull, which yielded multiple drivers' and constructors' championships. The task at Aston Martin is different: building a winning project from its foundation rather than optimizing an existing one. Watanabe's perspective, shaped by decades of supplying engines to different teams, underscores that technical prowess must be matched by resilient partnership to navigate the inevitable challenges of a competitive season.

What's next:

All focus is on the 2026 season and the debut of the AMR26, the first Aston Martin car fully conceived under Newey's guidance and powered by the Honda power unit. The success of this high-profile alliance will be measured by its on-track results and its ability to sustain a cohesive, winning culture through the pressures of a full F1 campaign.