Aston Martin will become a Honda works team in 2026. Lawrence Stroll explains why the transition will take time and warns against excessive euphoria in the first season.
Lawrence Stroll, owner of the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, has warned that the Silverstone-based outfit will need to be patient with Honda in 2026. The British team is currently preparing for its first season with the Japanese manufacturer as its engine supplier after parting ways with Mercedes at the end of the 2025 season.
Stroll is realistic about the situation and emphasizes that Honda must be given “the time it needs to develop this power unit.”
“We are really looking forward to next year with a huge rule change. It will be another big step forward. We have Honda as our power unit partner and will be a works team for the very first time. It’s a completely different experience,“ Stroll told the Spanish edition of Motorsport.com.
Switch from customer to factory team brings challenges
The Canadian explained the technical challenges that come with the switch from customer to factory status: ”Designing a chassis that fits a power unit is one thing. That’s in contrast to having a customer engine and just receiving it. It takes time and patience to get it all together.“
He added: ”It’s a new power unit that we’ll have next year. Hopefully, you have to give Honda the time necessary to develop that power unit.” Although Stroll noted that the project will take time, he confirmed that expectations are “very high, as high as they can be.”
“Now we need to give everyone some time to come together and work on bringing these exciting new rules and regulations coming next year up to the level of our very high expectations,” Stroll continued.
Honda has been working with teams from the Red Bull universe since 2018. This initially began with Toro Rosso (now Racing Bulls) and was extended to Red Bull Racing in 2019. In this successful partnership, they secured four drivers’ titles with Max Verstappen and two constructors’ titles in 2022 and 2023.
As Red Bull is developing its own powertrains under the name Red Bull Powertrains in collaboration with Ford for the period from 2026 onwards, Honda formed a new exclusive partnership with Aston Martin.