The president of Honda HRC offers little reassurance to Aston Martin for 2026: "The results are mixed."

Should we be worried about the team's future performance? Aston Martin In recent years, despite significant spending, few short-term indicators suggested that performance would quickly follow. The exception was the 2023 financial year, during which several podium finishes were secured by Fernando AlonsoThe effort seems to have been made primarily in preparation for the 2026 season which is about to begin.

However, pessimism might be warranted, judging by the comments from Honda HRC president Koji Watanabe. Interviewed by the Japanese media outlet Sportiva, the head of the engine manufacturing team didn't exactly paint a reassuring picture regarding the performance of the Honda engine for the upcoming season. F1.

"The homologation process takes place at the end of February, so I expect development to continue until the very last minute," he explained initiallyEverything is new. The motor is a new, very compact 350 kW model, which is exactly what we need. Furthermore, the lightweight battery isn't so easy to develop. And we also need a small motor with high power. It's all very difficult, but we're doing our best.

ALSO READ > Honda wants to "form a single team" with Aston Martin in 2026

Honda is proceeding cautiously.

"Given the uncertainty surrounding the progress of competing manufacturers, it remains difficult to see how close we can get to our own objectives," Koji Watanabe then alerted. Frankly, we still need time. We're progressing with development by progressively evaluating the performance gains achieved through the integration of various components. Some prove successful, others fail unexpectedly – ​​the results are mixed.

Not one to mince words, he did not hesitate to reveal that the work done so far on the 2026 engine was not as clear as the teams would have liked at this stage of development. "To be honest, everything isn't going well, so there are many areas where we are encountering difficulties, but nothing fatal has happened that we cannot overcome," he nevertheless temperedIn this situation, we are quietly focusing on improving performance and reliability.

Finally, specifying how the work with Aston Martin is set to be developed, Koji Watanabe took advantage of these revelations to recall the group's organizational chart, and what this would change in the joint work between the British and the Japanese.

“Aston Martin also wants to continue building cars that reflect Adrian [Newey]’s vision, so I think the next step for us, on the powertrain side, is to figure out how to adapt to that,” he detailed. Andy will focus on the areas he has worked in so far, such as the powertrain, fuel supplier Aramco, and lubricant supplier Valvoline, while Adrian will oversee the entire car and also serve as team principal. For us, it's simply business as usual. The technical team will continue to work primarily with Andy, while I (as chairman) will work more closely with Adrian.

With two months to go before the official start of the 2026 F1 season, it seems that Honda and Aston Martin are not yet brimming with absolute confidence in terms of results. Although the reality on the track will speak for itself by the end of January, reliability has suddenly become a priority when performance is not yet the focus. Could they have missed the mark?