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"We still need more time," admits Honda boss

NEWS STORY
12/01/2026

"To be honest, not everything is going well," says Honda president Koji Watanabe.

While Honda has continued to power Max Verstappen to pole positions and victories, the Dutchman coming within 2 points of claiming a fifth successive title, it's easy to forget that the Japanese manufacturer officially withdrew from the sport at the end of 2021, the year of his first title, but continued to supply Red Bull and its sister team with power units until the end of 2025. Initially, the agreement to continue assisting the two teams was for 2022 only, but this was subsequently extended.

Convinced by the new engine regulations, and despite having scaled back its F1 operation, Honda subsequently announced its return to the sport, and while the Red Bull teams were customers, its new agreement with Aston Martin is as a partner.

In recent days, ahead of the launch of its new power unit on 20 January, Honda has been teasing fans with selected shots of its latest creation, but speaking to Sportiva{/}, the company's president Koji Watanabe admits that things are not going entirely smoothly.

"We are at the stage where specifications are being fixed for the pre-season tests, and assembly is about to commence," he told the Japanese publication last month.

"However, homologation is at the end of February, so I expect development will continue right up to the very last minute," he added.

"Given the uncertainty surrounding rival manufacturers' progress, it remains a battle to see how close we can get to our own self-imposed targets," he continued. "Frankly, we still need more time.

"We're advancing development by incrementally assessing performance gains from integrating various components. Some prove successful, others fail unexpectedly, it's a mixed bag."

Mindful of the Japanese manufacturer's disastrous start under the previous regulations overhaul, he is pushed on where he believes Honda currently stands.

"To be honest, not everything is going well," he admits, "there are many areas where we are struggling, but nothing fatal has happened that we cannot overcome. In this situation, we are quietly concentrating on improving performance and reliability.

"Aston Martin also wants to keep building cars that reflect Adrian's vision," he continued, "so I think the next step for us on the power unit side is to figure out how to adapt to that. If doing so increases our competitiveness and makes us more likely to win, then we'll do whatever it takes!"

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