A new era of Formula 1 has seen new partnerships form, and Aston Martin has left its long association with Mercedes-Benz behind to source its racing power units from Honda.
Having moved on from being Red Bull’s supplier in recent years (which netted four Driver’s Championships and two Constructor’s Championships between 2021 and 2024), Honda enters Formula 1’s latest generation by only providing power to Aston Martin.
It’s not the first time the two have been linked together in Formula 1, with Aston Martin having been the Red Bull team’s major sponsor in 2019 and 2020 when the squad was utilising Honda power.
After the reveal of Honda’s new power unit this week, both Aston Martin chairman Lawrence Stroll and Honda president/CEOToshihiro Mibe were asked about whether it could be possible for the brands to launch a road car together, similar to how the Valkyrie hypercar was made and developed by one of Red Bull’s sub-divisions.
“Our current plan is obviously our very ambitious Formula One works team project. It’s safe to say that that is the beginning of our relationship,” Stroll said, as reported by Road & Track.
“We actually at this point have not discussed a production car or hypercar or a supercar together. There is absolutely no reason why we can’t do so going forward.”
“I tell you, Aston Martin would be very open to the idea based on this partnership. I’m sure Mibe-san might be excited about the idea. So let’s just say all doors are open to explore the greatest way to have the best partnership we can.”
Mibe added such a collaboration is “entirely possible”, but said the focus remains on Formula 1 for now.
“As Lawrence just said, first, you will start with the F1 project and create results,” Mibe said, according to Road & Track.
“Because this is our top priority. On the subject of any mass production projects, there are no talks. But the racing activities between the two - the more successful this is going to be, there will be value to applying what we learned from that to production cars.
“So I don’t know at what time, but if there is a possibility to expanding our business, as mentioned, that we can continue discussing, and I will be doing so with Lawrence. It is entirely possible.”
It’s worth noting that while Aston Martin’s Formula 1 cars are no longer powered by Mercedes-Benz engines, a majority of its road-going models continue to rely on AMG power.
The Aston Martin Vantage, DB12, DBX and upcoming Valhalla all feature Mercedes-AMG engines, with the Vanquish being the only model to be powered by an in-house V12.
