Honda points to prolonged absence from F1 as source of struggles

Honda’s official return to Formula 1 with Aston Martin was supposed to be a statement. Instead, just two races into the 2026 season, it’s turning into a painfully public reckoning.

At Suzuka – its spiritual home – Honda finds itself under an unforgiving spotlight, with a faltering power unit dragging Aston Martin into a spiral of unreliability, vibrations, and unfulfilled promise.

And now, in a moment of rare candour, Honda has pointed the finger – at itself.

A stark admission

Speaking to members of the media in Suzuka, Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe didn’t sugarcoat the situation. If anything, he leaned into the discomfort.

“Well, we are starting a new season with Aston Martin Aramco and, as you know, we are struggling in on-track performance at this moment,” he said.

For a manufacturer that once powered championship-winning dominance, the contrast is jarring. And while the new regulations have posed challenges across the grid, Watanabe was clear: Honda’s problems run deeper.

“I believe that there are several reasons,” he continued. “The first one is that, yes, of course, the new power regulation is quite challenging for us”.

That alone might have been an acceptable excuse – if not for what came next.

The cost of stepping away

Watanabe’s most revealing admission cut to the heart of Honda’s current predicament: the years it effectively stepped back from Formula 1.

“The second one is that we stopped the Formula 1 activities at the end of 2021 and announced to return to Formula 1 in 2023, so there is some period that during that period our Formula 1 activity was quite limited,” he said.

“It also took a bit of time for us to rebuild the organization to restart Formula 1 development. But now we are working closely with Aston Martin Aramco, not only technical area but also overall area, how we can build a strong partnership together with them.”

It’s a striking admission – that the seeds of today’s struggles were sown years ago.

And yet, the reality is more nuanced. While Honda was officially absent from the grid between 2022 and 2025, it never truly left the paddock.

Through a technical agreement with Red Bull Powertrains, it continued to manufacture and maintain the power units used by Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls on a day-to-day basis – a behind-the-scenes presence that makes the current performance deficit all the more surprising.

• Read also: Honda making progress but vibration issues linger ahead of Suzuka

Now reunited in full works capacity with Aston Martin, Honda is trying to rebuild not just performance, but identity.

“So, Aston Martin Aramco and Honda is not only just F1 constructor and power manufacturer, but also, we are working closely as one team,” Watanabe said.

“Actually, in our facility in Japan, the engineers from Aston Martin Aramco are really working hard closely with our engineers in Sakura, working together. So, I think most important is that we can keep moving forward step by step.”

It’s a vision of unity – but one that is currently being tested under extreme pressure.

Because right now, the problems are not theoretical. They are mechanical, visible, and race-ending.

Fighting fires, chasing time

At the core of Honda’s crisis lies a stubborn technical flaw: violent vibrations damaging critical components and preventing race completions.

“At this moment we are focused on how we can improve the situation of vibration, mainly damage to battery area, but also this time for Suzuka we have improved energy management situation for more driving performance,” Watanabe said.

Even here at Suzuka, hopes of a breakthrough feel cautious at best.

“We have some recovery plan together with Aston Martin, but we cannot tell that today,” he concluded.

For Honda, this is more than a slow start – it’s a harsh reminder that in Formula 1, momentum is everything, and losing it comes at a cost.

As the Japanese manufacturer faces its home crowd, the expectation is no longer victory – it’s survival, progress, and perhaps just a glimpse that the worst of this storm can eventually be left behind.

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