Honda has been working with Red Bull in Formula 1 for the past six years. They helped Max Verstappen win three driver’s titles. But now, they’re focusing on the 2026 season because Aston Martin will be their main team.
Instead of making regular car engines, Honda is putting more effort into making electric parts for the cars. They’re splitting their focus almost equally between regular engines and electric power. The main electric part they’re working on can give out 350kW of power. They’re not going to use a certain part called the turbo-mounted MGU-H anymore.
Red Bull, on the other hand, is working on their own engines now. They’re working with Ford and starting from scratch to make new engines.
The president of Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), Koji Watanabe, said everything is going as planned so far. They’re mainly focusing on making the electric parts of the engine and the battery. They’re also working on improving the regular engine, but it’s not a V6 engine yet. Right now, it’s just a single cylinder.
Even though Honda officially stopped making engines for F1 in 2021, they’re still working with Red Bull and improving their current engines. They had to hire new people for their 2026 project because many engineers left after they stopped working on F1.
Honda Racing Corporation has even made a new company in the UK to get ready for the 2026 engines. They haven’t decided where exactly it will be yet. They’re also getting help from their branch in the United States, HRC USA, which works on IndyCar and Acura’s IMSA cars.
Watanabe said that when they stopped working on F1, many engineers moved to other projects. They had to hire new people, and it’s taking some time to get everything set up. They’ve registered a new company in the UK so they can hire people there and get started on their new engines.
