*Alonso and Honda staring at each other At the same time.... Alonso: "it was mclarens fault!" Honda: "it was mclarens fault!" *finger guns, laughs and winks all round
While Aston Martin and Honda looks like a great partnership on paper, my worry for them is that Honda have wasted loads of time deciding what they are going to do while all the other teams are investing into this next gen power unit. I would not be surprised if they start on the back foot again
AM won't win a title as a Merc customer so they're probably thinking even if Honda start on the backfoot they have proven they can get their act together
Not much of a major change from the current PU except for the elimination of one the pesky KERS systems. Honda is still developing and supplying Red Bull engines. They won't be behind anyone. They just need to be decisive and not have execs on the board who are wishy washy accountants. They need to be fired! As they are responsible for Honda's collapsing car sales worldwide.
But Max has won 2 world titles with them going on 3 plus Mclaren never listens they didn't want to work with Honda but Red Bull built the car around the engine worked with them learned it's lesson from dissing Renault and they used Toro Rosso as a test team then built a race winning engine which has turned into a championship winning engine for people who claim to watch F1 y'all sure do have goldfish memories!
@@EnjoyTheSilenc3 If an f1 team is the sole or one of the only customers, they have lots of control over the design - case in point, red bull honda 2019-now, McLaren Honda since forever, but most recently 2015-2017, Red Bull Renault for a while, McLaren Mercedes etc etc etc.
Look up on Hitech's F1 application. Apparently Mercedes are letting them use their wind tunnel facilities. Steiner even referenced the rumour recently, that a team (ie Mercedes) in paddock is providing assistance to a potential newcomer. I'd say Toto is worried about losing customer (therefore political power) and is more than happy to encourage a new F1 entry as long as the use Mercedes engines.
Aston aren't going anywhere. Mercedes supply their road car division with engine and E technology and Mercedes are set to increase their investment in the company to 20% this year.
@@themarauder6108 I don't know. Aramco and Chinese carmaker Geely have increased their stake in the and may continue to do so paving the way to replace the role which Mercedes currently has for AM in its entirety. Lawrence has even previously considered AM constructing their own engine.
@@themarauder6108Aston Martin the car company and Aston Martin F1 are completely separate entities as Lance Stroll only hold less than 17% stake in the auto manufacturer and I do not believe there's any meaningful overlap between the two. Stroll could very well rename the F1 team whatever and however he wants so Aston Martin Lagonda can preserve their technical partnership with Mercedes. Aston Martin Valkyrie is currently in production and that thing is built in conjunction with Red Bull Racing.
@@beeman4266 I'm not saying this would be the case, BUT... given how close the field is and let's assume it would stay this close as of 2026.... I'd love to see Alonso in a Williams... just to see once again, what he can do in an average car. Now that the bottom teams are not 4-5 seconds off the pace like they were in 2014-19, for example.
Given the fact that Daimler (see Mercedes) already own 12% of Aston Martin and is rumoured to be upping that stake to 20%, already has a huge technical sharing and partnership deal with the F1 team as well as supplying engines and various other parts such as infotainment and electronics to the road car division, I see this as unlikely politically. The fact that AM as a customer is already outperforming the works outfit on track is one thing, but for them to be doing so with a rival PU supplier and a competing automotive brand whilst still having such a large ownership stake does not make any sense. The way I see it is that Honda have very limited options politically. RBR/SAT are obviously going to be RBPT-Ford, Ferrari will continue to supply themselves and Haas, Renault will supply Alpine and (potentially) Andretti, Audi will have their works team taking over from Alfa Romeo Sauber, which leaves the 3 Mercedes Customer Teams. Of those 3, Mclaren is the only one where Daimler AG does not have an ownership stake or a technical partnership for more than just the PU from Mercedes. Williams and Aston are still very much entangled with Mercedes in multiple ways, so I really don't see it happening.
@@BornAgainCynic0086 Technically, it's a one in the same deal as Stroll owns majority stakes in both of them. Yes, Stroll could rename the F1 team, but then he would lose the link to his prestige brand and the marketing opportunities that go with it. Business wise, it would make no sense to sever the link between the 2 entities to secure a PU supply deal from Honda.
While in theory this could work, I doubt Aston will move away from Mercedes, as the vast majority of Aston’s road cars use Mercedes technology and parts - so the running relationship between the two companies is quite extensive
I think Aston Martin would be the only logical team aside from a works team. They're the only non works team that show a commitment to wanting to win, would be a cool combo and give honda and alonso a chance to make things right lol
I doubt Alonso will be driving a Honda, he is basically blackballed at Honda. This deal is for 2026, and I think Alonso will retire at the end of 2025 unless something magical happens.
@@niko7903 you're probably right, it's a shame both party's can't just let go, alonso can apologize for his outbursts towards honda, saying it was a spur in the moment and honda can accept his apologies, saying they understand his frustrations in the moment. Nobody will look any different at both Honda or alonso if they just move on from the drama, which was more McLarens fault anyway, and attack both championships in 2026
I doubt Alonso at this point in his career at his age cares about the past Honda/McLaren era. He got a 5 second penalty, his engineer informed him about it. He said "copy" and proceeded to put on a show that eventually helped him keep his podium. His mind is in a different place. Different guy. Him amd Max are literally on a different plane of existence this season.
It's not about Alonso caring, it's about Honda caring and not wanting Alonso in their cars for being critical of Honda, he is blackballed from Honda. Won't matter though, it's a ways off, and Alonso won't be driving any Honda engined cars.
@Niko uh yeah dude, if AMRcis challenging for a title and Alonso is driving the car, Honda would be more than happy to have a 2x WDC behind the wheel. That's like 10+ years and different management completely. And that era for Honda engines wasnt great. Everyone knows it. What better way to mend fences. Be awesome if he gets an opportunity to run in the Indy 500. But, he may not even be driving by 2026. The only people who care about Alonso's GP 2 comment are those who get paid to stir the pot or rely on likes, clicks and views.
It is so funny how Honda creates these F1 Monsters. they wen't away and created Bran which became Mercedes. They com back, drag Alonso to the ground, then go to Red Bull and make a monster, then leave again. What's going to happen after that? I hope they don't drag Aston again 😅 Especially if Alonso is still there 😇
I must say. If Fernando ( or stroll... lol) does leave AM by 2025 and Checo does become a free agent again, his relationship with both AM and Honda may become handy for him. It's a very interesting situation. A Checo-Alonso Aston Martin Honda partnership sounds tasty.
Tbh I think this will be good partnership unlike Mclaren with Ron Dennis I mean Mclaren forced Hondo to do x thing and making the engine unreliable early in the V6 engine.
Alonso's performance vs his younger team mates jas shown thay he is still one of the best drivers on the grid. It would be a shame to see such a great and charismatic driver ousted due to political reasons.
Honda! Honda! Honda! Finally Honda making some good decisions! I can finally say I'm proud to be a honda fan these past few years! Best engine on the grid!!
Who says that. They and or Honda can always underperform. It's a toss up, especially if you go with any new entrant. Honda sold most of their expertise to Redbull now so we don't know if whoever's left will be up to the task.
it isn't guaranteed, and it wouldn't be without consequence for AM, since they will get less of their car made by Mercedes, but AM has always been very efficient with the resources they get, and Honda has proven themselves as a good supplier.
@Calle Nilsson imo the main issues for Aston currently is that they can't get the floor of Red Bull which is maximizing the tiny Honda engine to its advantage so aston wants it because the size can give them better aero especially with the former red bull engineers knowing exactly what to do unlike McClaren
Honda has the strongest power unit. If aston had Honda engine now they would be up there with Red Bull. They have everything else in place, they just need that engine
This partnership better happend because I need Honda to stay active in F1 soo I can still watch .. I only watch F1 from 2 years ago because I'm a Honda fan boy lmao
My friends and family started F1 in 2018/9 as underdog Honda fans in the Red Bull-Honda alliance. In 2023, sad to say, but now they are only Red Bull fans. Sorry Honda but you broke all of your promises and commitment. The zero emissions ev goal in 2020 was utter rubbish from the start. Good luck with Aston Martin, you might need it.
McLaren: "HEY! We really think we should give our partnership another shot! What say?" Honda: *Looks at past and present f*** ups* "Ehm... Thanks but we're good."
Hope Aston Martin will design, build, develop and manufacture their own in house engine after those heavy investments in their new headquarter and facilities. If you want to stand in the pinnacle of the most prestigious motor sports, having a reliable engine should be priority than relying on customer engine supplier.
they were going to do it... but the cost in the long run for them was too much to try (i think i read they compared how much honda invested to the time it took for them to reach to the top)
Red Bull and Ford. Red Bull is going to regret it. Ford hasn’t built a f1 engine. They’re known for NASCAR. Red Bull is doing good this season. It’s because Honda.
I don't get how 2 manufacturers would pair up - wouldn't Aston Martin advertising that they are using engines from a different manufacturer be BAD publicity for them? Who's gonna say "Oh man, those Aston Martins are fast with the Honda engines in them, think I'll go buy me a new AM"....
Ole' Larry Stroll keeps surprising us. He's kind of an a-hole, but I like him, and I think he's good for the sport and content creators. I wish Honda would work more closely with Acura, since their hypercars are awesome, but they refuse to support Acura outside of North America.
Looks like the japanese of Honda doesn't have much a notion of timing... they should be winning with Red Bull now (and the same back 2009). But they make the wrong choice all the time.
alonso's insulting Honda whilst at mcloser means that Honda will put in a bullet proof clause in the contract, that the deal's off if alonso is not sacked prior to 2026. And rightly so, after all, he earned Honda's vitriol fair and square. The problem for both the green team and Honda is that they will both insist in below par drivers. On daddy stroll's side, his slow, untalented boy. On Honda's side, an uncompetitive japanese driver. So they'll get nowhere. So something's gotta give. It'll be interesting to see what happens. Also, daddy stroll is no spring chicken, so there's no telling how long he'll be at the helm. You never can tell and anything can and will happen.
This is suprising news. This is a good move however for both parties. Aston Martin can have the expertise of Honda while not being a customer anymore thus not having a disadvantage of being a customer anymore (even though this year they are beating their supplier). And for Honda they have found a customer that is clearly on the up. Also Aston Martin Honda just sounds good
Is it really surprising? Alot of people have been saying it. Honda is independent in 2026, Mclaren failed all their objectives while Aston is on the rise
"Also Aston Martin Honda just sounds good"? Does it really, though? Classic UK car brand, with famous Japanese engine, while it might be a beneficial pairing, it just sounds odd to me. At least the Merc engine was developed from the UK Ilmor engineering. Also, Red Bull with Ford is just odd to me, too. Honda engine, with Ford branding. Then there was Porsche engines branded as TAG (watch company). F1 can be weird sometimes. I'd rather see Honda just re-enter the sport as their own team than join Aston Martin. They are also completely idiotic for leaving Red Bull too early.
@@mohammadnashitsiddiqui2168 How long have you been around the sport? Honda screwed up with BAR when it turned into Brawn. They lost a double right there. Then they screwed up with McLaren. Then finally with Red Bull guidance, they achieved success but not as a manufacturer. Only as a badge. They have sold out every single time when on the cusp of greatness and now I'm supposed to believe that RedBull, who I believe to own the IP for Honda engines is going to sell it back so Honda can try again with Aston Martin?? Give me a fucking break. Honda is a company that has done nothing but snatch defeat from the jaws of victory, one team after another, in the modern era.
Honda: Lets spend a fortune to join F1 at the wrong time, be really crap, leave just as we sort ourselves out, sell our IP for a song, and loose lots of staff. Do that again... ...and again ...and again
I’ll be quite surprised if they get this done considering all AM road cars have Mercedes linked engines and Toto’s shares in the brand. Feels like they’re tied to Merc unless Lawrence can get Toto out
Tbh, I think it would be really interesting to see if F1 catches the interest of Toyota now, despite their previous ventures into the sport being unsuccessful
I think this is a really smart move. I can't ever see a customer team ever winning championships, and striking a deal with Honda (now that they are a championship winning manufacturer) seems like a no -brainer.
never gonna happen. honda won't provide engines for alonso. my guess is the ford branding deal lasts 1 year and honda jumps back in bed with RB full-time.
red bull are always on the pedestal they win and bring in loads of money, honda is a dam clownnnnn when u ask a normie about f1 they always mention redbull not aston lol
I still could not understand why Honda even withdraw when RedBull is doing incredibly well, then just to come back once again “officially” in 2026 with Aston Martin like?!?!?! 🤨🤨🤨🤨
Honda didn’t seem like they really wanted to leave and have new leadership. It still forced Redbull to invest heavily in Redbull Powertrains and can’t be undone.
Aston martin will be the force to be reckon with. Aston martin has already aromco as a partner with gives them crazy amount of financial benefits plus honda as a supply engine. If the trio gets an alliance I am sure they will dominate in some in the future
It all depends on whether Red Bulls uses Ford stuff. They have already assembled a team with former Honda engineers. It will be fine if they simply ignore Ford. If they are forced to use Ford IPs due to the partnership, they will be doomed.
Merc owns a 20% stake in Aston, Aston road cars are powered my Merc engines besides the Valkyrie and maybe Valhalla. So I doubt they’ll let them use Honda engines. The fact that every Aston from road to F1 car, minus the hypercars use Merc engines is a great marketing tool to sell more. I don’t think they would let their investment team use their rival engine
Given the relationship between AM and Merc, including cross-ownership stakes, and Merc engines being used in AM road cars, this makes no sense and seems pretty unlikely.
While I agree with this point to an extent, stranger things have happened in F1, remember the 2010 BMW Sauber Ferrari C29? Or the McLaren TAG Porsche deal in the 80s? Or how we currently have Audi Alfa Romeo Sauber Ferrari on the grid? It's still far from guaranteed because Mercedes do have some pull, but they only have a voting stake and not a controlling one, so they can be overruled by the board
@@TassieLorenzo Lawrence Stroll owns a controlling stake in both the Aston Martin F1 team and Aston Martin road car division, with the road car division having a stake in the F1 team via AMR GP
Honda: "Aston Martin is our next team" Fernando Alonso: "oh great!" Edit: remember, Lawrence Stroll sees money as no object, but a works project needs to have everyone involved, with Red Bull they had everyone in Milton Keynes and everyone at Honda and at Mobil involved in the project, at Mercedes it's everyone at Brackley, Brixworth and at Petronas
YEEEESSSSS! PERFECT COMBO! RB will immense regretting the BS with Ford paper engines! YEEESSSSSS! HONDA should have never hesitated with RB - they need a good astrologer to help them take smart decisions!
Bad news for Aston Martin from 2026 until Honda quit again, when Aston will go on to win potentially back to back [to back] championships. That's what seems to happen with Honda, they can't win until they quit, when they win.
The Mercedes engine seems to be a hindrance lately, and having control of their own engine is like the last thing Aston need to be a full on top team. If Ford and RBPT mess up and Honda can somehow keep the level they’re at now, could be a big swing
Tbh it can be a double edge sword. McLaren did control their own engine with Honda before and you know the rest. Meanwhile Williams (merc customer) rocketed in the early hybrid era.
@@titan_fx - McLaren where the hindrance to Honda by constantly interfering & the reason why the partnership was a disaster. Red Bull took the opposite approach & just let Honda do there thing.
@@leepower2717 Thats totally false, Honda have a lot of reability issues and the team lost tens of positions every season for penaltys just changing parts of the engine, even before start the races. Also Honda designed his engine for a diferent chassis but they promise Maclaren that it would work with the car, thing that didnt happened until Maclaren fixit redesigning part of the chassis. A team cant wait 5 years to get an engine ready to be at the top, and that engine start to bright finally at Red Bull.
@@ElGuatequero - McLaren enforced there size zero concept on Honda which comprised there ability to design a decent power unit. Red Bull worked smarter by telling Honda to build the best power unit they could, let them know how much cooling it required & then they would fit the car around it.
It's absolutely bonkers how much money Honda has wasted and now will have to spend just because they have no idea what they actually want. Seems super uncharacteristic from the Japanese to make disorderly, unfounded and terribly unthoughtful decisions.
Without Fernando, or someone of his caliber and capability, can Aston Martin really challenge? Stroll is still hopelessly lost in the midfield, despite being mentored by 2 former champions. I can't see Lawrence send his son away for a better driver.
Red Bull went with Ford over Honda...... Let me say that again... Red Bull went with Ford over Honda.... I have a feeling this will backfire on Red Bull.
2000 Honda returns to F1, 2008 quits levaing its team to win the 2009 WCC 2015 Honda returns to F1, 2021 quits leaving its team to win the 2022 WCC 2026 Honda returns to F1...
Hard to imagine looking back now that Sauber rejected Honda for the 2018 season. Good thing Torro Rosso took them on for 2018 which led to Red Bull/Honda that we still see dominating in 2024.
