2026 Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team

[TyreSlip]

Q: (Samuel Coop - RacingNews365) Adrian, my question is for you. You mentioned fresh faces at Honda. Were Aston Martin aware of the lack of experience at Honda when the works deal was signed? And if not, would that agreement have been made?
AN: No, we weren't. We only really became aware of it in November of last year when Lawrence, Andy Cowell and myself went to Tokyo to discuss rumours starting to suggest that their original target power they wouldn't achieve for race one, and out of that came the fact that many of the original workforce had not returned when they restarted. So, no is the answer.

This puts the Cowell move into a different light. It seemed like a demotion, especially with the rumored arguments with Newey. But it seems like he might be one of the most experienced engine people at Honda, even if not employed by them.

By the way which people are left? The leader, Asaki retired, I think I heard the name Kakuda, that appeared in an interview not long ago. Also (if not the same. ) whoever goes by "wazari" on this forum.

Baffling how they only became aware of it in November of last year. Communication between both parties must be terrible, this is a multi year project and should've been noticed much sooner.

True, Aston Martin should have done more visits on the progress. It was not, however, Aston Martin's job to babysit Honda and ensure that Honda put a large enough staff with experience on the project.

I find it ironic that Honda went through a rigorous interview process to find the most dedicated F1 team to supply engines to for 2026 only not to dedicate the same amount of resources to the project from their side.

[johnnycesup]

Baffling how they only became aware of it in November of last year. Communication between both parties must be terrible, this is a multi year project and should've been noticed much sooner.

Yeah, he might have been trying to put the blame on Honda, but this looks really bad on AMR's part all the way to Lawrence Stroll. Since signing the 2023 deal Honda was clearly very late in restarting their F1 project so they AMR should have become some sort of a works team, meaning very close contact between the engine people and the chassis people, and that was clearly not the case. Both sides are to blame.

[AR3-GP]

the-race is calling out AMR for not knowing what Honda was doing until November
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/adri ... confusing/

In May 2023, The Race learned that Honda had been working with a much smaller F1 set-up because a lot of F1 engineers in Sakura were transferred to carbon neutrality projects elsewhere in the company. A UK site that did some work with the energy recovery systems was also sold to Red Bull Powertrains.

It was also known that Honda was participating in technical discussions around 2026, but not paying them the same level of attention as either incoming engine manufacturers Audi and Red Bull, or the existing ones that were preparing for 2026 as early as possible.

In September 2023, Honda openly admitted it was working with “less resources” following its initial F1 withdrawal, which The Race reported was a reference to the staffing of the project, and efforts to address the personnel shortfall, rather than a financial matter.

The point is that Honda gutting its F1 division and creating a hurdle to overcome was established. So how did it take until November 2025 for experience/personnel deficiencies to come to light?

[LookingGlass]

This puts the Cowell move into a different light. It seemed like a demotion, especially with the rumored arguments with Newey. But it seems like he might be one of the most experienced engine people at Honda, even if not employed by them.

By the way which people are left? The leader, Asaki retired, I think I heard the name Kakuda, that appeared in an interview not long ago. Also (if not the same. ) whoever goes by "wazari" on this forum.

Baffling how they only became aware of it in November of last year. Communication between both parties must be terrible, this is a multi year project and should've been noticed much sooner.

True, Aston Martin should have done more visits on the progress. It was not, however, Aston Martin's job to babysit Honda and ensure that Honda put a large enough staff with experience on the project.

I find it ironic that Honda went through a rigorous interview process to find the most dedicated F1 team to supply engines to for 2026 only not to dedicate the same amount of resources to the project from their side.

I don't understand how the people managing the PU and chassis integration aren't having daily communications and data sharing with each other. Why are the people at the highest level of the organization flying out at the tail end of the 2026 development cycle to investigate "rumors" and the state of Honda's engine development?

[TyreSlip]

the-race is calling out AMR for not knowing what Honda was doing until November
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/adri ... confusing/

In May 2023, The Race learned that Honda had been working with a much smaller F1 set-up because a lot of F1 engineers in Sakura were transferred to carbon neutrality projects elsewhere in the company. A UK site that did some work with the energy recovery systems was also sold to Red Bull Powertrains.

It was also known that Honda was participating in technical discussions around 2026, but not paying them the same level of attention as either incoming engine manufacturers Audi and Red Bull, or the existing ones that were preparing for 2026 as early as possible.

In September 2023, Honda openly admitted it was working with “less resources” following its initial F1 withdrawal, which The Race reported was a reference to the staffing of the project, and efforts to address the personnel shortfall, rather than a financial matter.

The point is that Honda gutting its F1 division and creating a hurdle to overcome was established. So how did it take until November 2025 for experience/personnel deficiencies to come to light?

Andy Cowell or Lawrence Stroll should have made visits to the factory since signing with Honda. For whatever reason they did not, is baffling and unprofessional. I do not blame Newey as he had his hands tied trying to play catch-up with the car.

[diffuser]

This puts the Cowell move into a different light. It seemed like a demotion, especially with the rumored arguments with Newey. But it seems like he might be one of the most experienced engine people at Honda, even if not employed by them.

By the way which people are left? The leader, Asaki retired, I think I heard the name Kakuda, that appeared in an interview not long ago. Also (if not the same. ) whoever goes by "wazari" on this forum.

Baffling how they only became aware of it in November of last year. Communication between both parties must be terrible, this is a multi year project and should've been noticed much sooner.

True, Aston Martin should have done more visits on the progress. It was not, however, Aston Martin's job to babysit Honda and ensure that Honda put a large enough staff with experience on the project.

I find it ironic that Honda went through a rigorous interview process to find the most dedicated F1 team to supply engines to for 2026 only not to dedicate the same amount of resources to the project from their side.

If you want to protect your teams interests and prevent these scenarios, you do. It's called management.

Let's face it, Lawrence didn't know what he was doing. Honda probably wouldn't have found a partner had AMR not come around. In spite of all the nice facilities, AMR have largely been a bottom feeder. They're building. I think Lawrence giving up a share of the team to bring Newey aboard, is Lawrence admitting that he is out of his depth in the engineering world. He's thrown money at big names and that has only resulted in him throwing money away. So from that point of view this was a failure from AMR side as well. They should have kept closer tabs on them.

[AR3-GP]

Andy Cowell or Lawrence Stroll should have made visits to the factory since signing with Honda. For whatever reason they did not, is baffling and unprofessional. I do not blame Newey as he had his hands tied trying to play catch-up with the car.

What was the point of becoming a works team if not to have a very close relationship with the engine partner?
So they signed the contracts and then ghost each other for 3 years? It's surreal.

[gshevlin]

I have to assume that, having agreed power and performance targets with Honda in the 2023-2024 time period, AMR then proceeded to design their chassis and transmission and control systems, and create simulation processes, based on those agreed targets. They did not check progress until November 2025, at which point they found the deficiencies in both power unit performance and resource allocations by Honda.
Honda's decision to withdraw after 2021 was based on their need to re-allocate engineers to strategic projects elsewhere. They then realized how big a mistake that was, and agreed a limited badging deal with ICE support from Sakura until the end of 2025.
There never has been any continuity between the generations of engineers and engineering leadership in the Honda F1 programs. After Honda left F1 in 1992, the leadership (Goto-san and several others ) ended up helping Ferrari with their V12, but the lower level engineers went elsewhere in Honda, and the V10 program was handed off to Mugen, until Honda returned with a new group of engineers and leadership in the early 2000s, before withdrawing again in 2009.
When Honda returned again in 2015, in a new V6 turbo era, the only engineer from the 1980s program that they had in leadership was Hasegawa-san, whose 1980s turbo powerplant experience was confined to control systems, not ICE and PU design. Now it seems that Honda has staffed the 2026 PU delivery team from scratch with all new engineers and leadership.
This generation of Honda personnel now has to recover from a similar power and reliability deficit to the 2015 PU team, with yet another frustrated and pissed-off team hitting them upsides the head in private.

[TyreSlip]

Andy Cowell or Lawrence Stroll should have made visits to the factory since signing with Honda. For whatever reason they did not, is baffling and unprofessional. I do not blame Newey as he had his hands tied trying to play catch-up with the car.

What was the point of becoming a works team if not to have a very close relationship with the engine partner?
So they signed the contracts and then ghost each other for 3 years? It's surreal.

My guess is that all communication was done virtually or via phone. Newey being the first to ring the alarm bell was stupid from AMR management's side.

[auem123]

Amount of mismanagement from both sides are astonishing. If Newey is true then Aston also bears blame for not checking Honda's progress periodically.

[Miha_v]

We're always talking about the big name hires that have taken place but I'm interested in knowing how front line and middle management has changed overtime at AMF1. Is AMF1 not competitive in pay for many of the engineering positions? Poor culture? It seems like a systemic failure for AMF1 to be at the point it currently is.

IMO, whenever (any) company grows quickly, things can unfortunately go wrong quickly as well (hierarchy and organisational structure changes can impact overall performance, chances of potential clashes between teams / individuals inside grow rapidly, the amount of quality control of work needed skyrockets, I imagine...). AM practically doubled in size in just a couple of years (from the public information I see). One of the fastest expansions in this sport in recent years.

[Nikosar]

Amount of mismanagement from both sides are astonishing. If Newey is true then Aston also bears blame for not checking Honda's progress periodically.

The first red flag was the simulator issue at the time Newey said it takes up to 2 years only to fix it… Cowel tried to down play the gravity of it but it was already first sign where Aston was behind on schedule

[LookingGlass]

Baffling how they only became aware of it in November of last year. Communication between both parties must be terrible, this is a multi year project and should've been noticed much sooner.

True, Aston Martin should have done more visits on the progress. It was not, however, Aston Martin's job to babysit Honda and ensure that Honda put a large enough staff with experience on the project.

I find it ironic that Honda went through a rigorous interview process to find the most dedicated F1 team to supply engines to for 2026 only not to dedicate the same amount of resources to the project from their side.

If you want to protect your teams interests and prevent these scenarios, you do. It's called management.

Let's face it, Lawrence didn't know what he was doing. Honda probably wouldn't have found a partner had AMR not come around. In spite of all the nice facilities, AMR have largely been a bottom feeder. They're building. I think Lawrence giving up a share of the team to bring Newey aboard, is Lawrence admitting that he is out of his depth in the engineering world. He's thrown money at big names and that has only resulted in him throwing money away. So from that point of view this was a failure from AMR side as well. They should have kept closer tabs on them.

Lawrence is responsible for the livelihoods of 900+ employees at AMF1 and Honda, not to mention the expectations of fans and investors. If he wants to throw millions to keep his son in F1 then he needs to pay another team to take him on, not treat it like a clothing company buying bulk fabrics from factories in Malaysia.

[Leon Kennedy]

the-race is calling out AMR for not knowing what Honda was doing until November
https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/adri ... confusing/

In May 2023, The Race learned that Honda had been working with a much smaller F1 set-up because a lot of F1 engineers in Sakura were transferred to carbon neutrality projects elsewhere in the company. A UK site that did some work with the energy recovery systems was also sold to Red Bull Powertrains.

It was also known that Honda was participating in technical discussions around 2026, but not paying them the same level of attention as either incoming engine manufacturers Audi and Red Bull, or the existing ones that were preparing for 2026 as early as possible.

In September 2023, Honda openly admitted it was working with “less resources” following its initial F1 withdrawal, which The Race reported was a reference to the staffing of the project, and efforts to address the personnel shortfall, rather than a financial matter.

The point is that Honda gutting its F1 division and creating a hurdle to overcome was established. So how did it take until November 2025 for experience/personnel deficiencies to come to light?

Andy Cowell or Lawrence Stroll should have made visits to the factory since signing with Honda. For whatever reason they did not, is baffling and unprofessional. I do not blame Newey as he had his hands tied trying to play catch-up with the car.

Guys, what's your timeline? First Bell, now Cowell who joined in 2024. What's their fault?

[diffuser]

True, Aston Martin should have done more visits on the progress. It was not, however, Aston Martin's job to babysit Honda and ensure that Honda put a large enough staff with experience on the project.

I find it ironic that Honda went through a rigorous interview process to find the most dedicated F1 team to supply engines to for 2026 only not to dedicate the same amount of resources to the project from their side.

If you want to protect your teams interests and prevent these scenarios, you do. It's called management.

Let's face it, Lawrence didn't know what he was doing. Honda probably wouldn't have found a partner had AMR not come around. In spite of all the nice facilities, AMR have largely been a bottom feeder. They're building. I think Lawrence giving up a share of the team to bring Newey aboard, is Lawrence admitting that he is out of his depth in the engineering world. He's thrown money at big names and that has only resulted in him throwing money away. So from that point of view this was a failure from AMR side as well. They should have kept closer tabs on them.

Lawrence is responsible for the livelihoods of 900+ employees at AMF1 and Honda, not to mention the expectations of fans and investors. If he wants to throw millions to keep his son in F1 then he needs to pay another team to take him on, not treat it like a clothing company buying bulk fabrics from factories in Malaysia.

No sure why you using present tense. He's obviously handed those reigns over to Newey. With the exception of his son as a Driver. That too will pass in time.