Alonso will feature with Aston Martin-Honda from 2026

Fernando Alonso will feature with Aston Martin-Honda from 2026, either as a driver or a team ambassador, we reckon.

Yes, Honda has publicly said that they don't mind Alonso driving a race car powered by their engines, but would anyone come out publicly saying otherwise?

In fact, remember Alonso's Indy 500 bid? He raced a Chevrolet-powered car. It was known, but not publicly declared, that Honda didn't want him to race their engines. 

Mercedes had a similar stance till they relaxed it so that Alonso could race a Mercedes-powered Aston Martin this season.

2026 might seem far away, but Aston Martin will already planning their driver line-up - what's next after Alonso? They will need an A-lister...and Lance Stroll isn't one.

Could this partnership interest Charles Leclerc or Lando Norris? Honda has declared that they would like to a Japanese driver at Aston Martin - could it be Yuki Tsunoda or Ayumu Iwasa? Interesting times ahead.

Here's an upload of a Twitter Spaces conversation between Soumil Arora and Kunal Shah for our avid podcast audience.

Tune in!

(Season 2023, Episode 24)

Follow our hosts on Twitter: Soumil Arora, Kunal Shah

Image courtesy: Aston Martin Formula One Team

## Aston Martin-Honda Partnership and Its Implications for Formula One

### Introduction

- Aston Martin and Honda have announced a partnership, with Honda set to supply engines to the team from 2026 onwards.
- This partnership marks a significant development in Formula One, as it brings together two iconic brands with a rich history in the sport.

### Speculation on Fernando Alonso's Role

- There is speculation about whether Fernando Alonso will continue to race for Aston Martin beyond 2026.
- Honda has publicly stated that they have no objection to Alonso driving a car powered by their engines.
- However, there is a precedent for Honda not wanting Alonso to race with their engines, as seen in his Indy 500 bid where he raced a Chevrolet-powered car.

### Aston Martin's Driver Lineup Post-Alonso

- Aston Martin will need to find a replacement for Alonso once he retires.
- Potential candidates include Charles Leclerc, Lando Norris, Yuki Tsunoda, and Ayumu Iwasa.
- The team is likely already planning their driver lineup for 2026 and beyond.

### Integration Challenges and Manufacturer Collaborations

- Aston Martin has never had a factory partnership before, so the integration of Honda's engines could be challenging.
- However, the recent trend in Formula One has been towards manufacturer collaborations, with teams like Andretti Cadillac Renault and Red Bull Ford emerging.
- This trend is expected to continue in the future, with six manufacturer teams expected to be on the grid in 2026.

### Honda's Return to Formula One

- Honda's return to Formula One is a significant development, as it brings another major manufacturer into the sport.
- Honda has a history of success in Formula One, having won multiple championships with McLaren in the 1980s and 1990s.
- The new engine regulations for 2026 are expected to make the sport more competitive, which could benefit Honda.

### Conclusion

- The Aston Martin-Honda partnership is a major development in Formula One, with the potential to reshape the competitive landscape of the sport.
- The integration of Honda's engines into Aston Martin's cars could be challenging, but the team has a strong track record of success.
- The partnership could also lead to the arrival of a new generation of drivers, as Aston Martin looks to build a team capable of challenging for the championship.

[00:00.000 -> 00:21.920] And it's been what, three years since COVID?
[00:21.920 -> 00:24.440] And every single time, it's still the same question.
[00:24.440 -> 00:25.400] It's like, can you hear me? Can you hear me not? It's like a team, three years since COVID? And every single time, it's still the same question. It's always like, can you hear me?
[00:25.400 -> 00:26.560] Can you hear me not?
[00:26.560 -> 00:28.880] It's like a team radio thing, always.
[00:28.880 -> 00:30.800] Yeah, this is where Lando Norris normally ends up
[00:30.800 -> 00:34.720] singing a song, at least the avatar he was racing in last year
[00:34.720 -> 00:36.280] where he could probably score a podium.
[00:36.280 -> 00:38.480] Maybe he's gonna sing a song this year.
[00:38.480 -> 00:41.440] But this is our first Twitter spaces, my goodness.
[00:43.200 -> 00:44.920] Yeah, very, very random.
[00:44.920 -> 00:47.260] But again, it's just about as random as the announcement
[00:47.260 -> 00:52.840] of Aston Martin and Honda. So I think we can be excused about how obscure the timing of
[00:52.840 -> 00:59.280] this is, but it's happening Kunal. It's finally somehow going to happen again, Aston Martin
[00:59.280 -> 01:06.200] Honda, it's again another manufacturer collaboration. and I think first up the one big thing that I'm so confused about
[01:06.560 -> 01:10.320] Is will Honda let Alonso drive or will he even be around till that point?
[01:11.160 -> 01:18.680] That's that's a great point. And you know Honda's just had an official conference and press release all of that and listen
[01:18.680 -> 01:20.520] everybody will
[01:20.520 -> 01:27.680] Officially say we don't mind Fernando driving. We love Alonso. We do this we do that etc
[01:27.680 -> 01:29.680] and that's fair because
[01:29.680 -> 01:35.060] Did we ever hear Mercedes say that we won't let Fernando drive one of our Mercedes-powered cars?
[01:35.060 -> 01:37.200] I mean they literally relaxed their rules
[01:37.840 -> 01:43.920] From this year or last year when they actually didn't have an issue with Aston Martin hiring Fernando Alonso
[01:45.760 -> 01:42.400] didn't have an issue with Aston Martin
[01:47.440 -> 01:45.760] hiring Fernando Alonso. Honda's of course said
[01:49.760 -> 01:47.440] the past is the past, Alonso's a genius,
[01:52.440 -> 01:49.760] that's the official line, but remember
[01:54.760 -> 01:52.440] when he was racing in the IndyCar just
[01:58.160 -> 01:54.760] a couple of years ago, he actually had a
[02:00.400 -> 01:58.160] Chevrolet-powered engine because
[02:02.720 -> 02:00.400] nobody publicly said that he couldn't
[02:04.200 -> 02:02.720] race a Honda-powered engine. Either way, we are
[02:06.080 -> 02:04.200] speculating, we are just asking the
[02:08.800 -> 02:09.360] question that's on everybody's minds. We will never know the answer till we reach 2026,
[02:14.160 -> 02:19.360] whether or not Fernando Alonso will be around, would he want to be around? Will he continue to race with a Honda powered engine? Will Honda drive him into retirement again? Or will he drive Honda
[02:19.360 -> 02:25.480] to the successes that they have been hoping for, planning for, for all this time.
[02:25.480 -> 02:28.640] So lots of questions that will get answered, but some of the interesting
[02:28.840 -> 02:34.400] dynamic here is, even if Alonso doesn't race, he still plans to retire
[02:34.400 -> 02:36.560] and join Aston Martin as management.
[02:36.920 -> 02:41.760] So Honda is definitely going to be around and then Alonso will also be around
[02:41.760 -> 02:44.920] outside of the cockpit on the pit wall, maybe, if not in the cockpit.
[02:45.000 -> 02:51.000] Oh God, that's going to be even worse. And you know what I'm actually worried about?
[02:51.000 -> 02:58.000] It's the fact that whenever Honda joins hands with another team, and this has happened in the past as well,
[02:58.000 -> 03:03.000] the integration is such a tricky part because they have a different style of working and everything.
[03:03.000 -> 03:06.200] And remember, Aston Martin is a team and whatever iteration you look at them,
[03:06.440 -> 03:09.520] they've never quite had a factory partnership ever.
[03:09.760 -> 03:13.440] So it's also the first time they're exploring a proper engine manufacturer,
[03:13.760 -> 03:17.200] just working for them. And I'm just so curious to see, okay,
[03:17.200 -> 03:18.400] can they work it out really?
[03:18.400 -> 03:21.560] Like is this something that's not going to be a major management headache?
[03:21.600 -> 03:23.840] Of course it will be, but the integration fascinates me.
[03:23.840 -> 03:28.720] And also if Alonzo will be in a management role at that time, just how do things work out
[03:28.720 -> 03:34.560] then? But have you noticed this interesting part Kunal, that manufacturers these days don't mind
[03:34.560 -> 03:40.000] collaborating with other manufacturers. Like when we had Andretti come up with their Formula One bid,
[03:40.000 -> 03:44.160] it was meant to be Andretti Cadillac. But remember, Cadillac wasn't supplying engines. So
[03:44.160 -> 03:46.480] it was meant to be Andretti Cadillac Renault remember Cadillac wasn't supplying engines, so it was meant to be Andretti Cadillac Renault.
[03:46.480 -> 03:48.000] Like two manufacturers colliding.
[03:48.000 -> 03:50.720] So I find it to be quite fun how things are working these days.
[03:51.440 -> 03:55.840] You know, when the going is great, everybody wants their own share of pie in Formula One.
[03:55.840 -> 03:59.840] They have their own budgets that they come with, and this is what Formula One is enabled.
[03:59.840 -> 04:01.840] I mean, you know, that's a great thing.
[04:01.840 -> 04:03.840] I mean, we have seen, you know, even in road cars,
[04:04.400 -> 04:06.440] a certain manufacturer build the chassis
[04:06.440 -> 04:09.420] and a certain manufacturer put the power unit.
[04:09.420 -> 04:11.040] But now we've not,
[04:11.040 -> 04:12.960] Formula One has done that for a long time.
[04:12.960 -> 04:14.720] And then of course, there's a rebadging
[04:14.720 -> 04:15.880] that happens on all of that.
[04:15.880 -> 04:18.520] But now from 2026,
[04:18.520 -> 04:23.520] there are gonna be six manufacturer teams in Formula One.
[04:23.840 -> 04:26.920] Wow, which I think is fantastic. And the strange part
[04:26.920 -> 04:31.240] is, of course, you know, there is, we will have soon news later in the year about whether
[04:31.240 -> 04:35.880] the 11th and 12th team will get added and what that status is and so on. But at the
[04:35.880 -> 04:45.000] moment, McLaren and Williams, the stars of the yesteryears, the most dominant teams of the 80s, 90s
[04:45.000 -> 04:48.000] don't have a works deal in place yet.
[04:48.000 -> 04:54.000] And imagine, you're a works team principal in 2026,
[04:54.000 -> 04:57.000] then you are actually sixth of all the works teams.
[04:57.000 -> 05:01.000] So it's going to be a hot title race, I would say.
[05:01.000 -> 05:02.000] I hope.
[05:02.000 -> 05:04.000] It's going to be fun.
[05:04.000 -> 05:05.720] It's going to be fun. it's going to be fun with so many teams
[05:05.720 -> 05:10.360] having factory support, there's no word on how good the Red Bull Ford partnership might
[05:10.360 -> 05:14.760] be, nobody knows if this engine formula is going to work out for Audi as well, even with
[05:14.760 -> 05:19.800] Honda, I think there is some certainty right and I think if you were Aston Martin Kunal,
[05:19.800 -> 05:24.240] Honda would make the most sense, I mean you're getting a manufacturer all to yourself, title
[05:24.240 -> 05:29.440] winning manufacturer and let's be honest, it seems like they're also going to be on track to win 2023 as
[05:29.440 -> 05:34.720] an engine manufacturer too. So all in all, with the new factory, with Fernando along, so it's a
[05:34.720 -> 05:39.680] good deal. The only light part of this partnership now seems like the driver and I don't know,
[05:39.680 -> 05:49.840] large store, factory driver, you know? Yeah, yeah., I mean it's his father's team, whatever, he's already in a factory role if
[05:49.840 -> 05:54.200] he may think of it that way and most people do, right? But you know, couple of history
[05:54.200 -> 06:00.560] points Jordan never had a works deal like you pointed out, but they did run Mugen, Honda
[06:00.560 -> 06:06.800] engines in the late 90s. I remember the buzzing Hornets and that deal. Also, the current
[06:06.800 -> 06:13.040] Aston Martin deal, the engine supply deal that they have at Mercedes, was in fact signed by
[06:13.040 -> 06:18.960] Vijay Mallya for the Force India team back in 2009. So that's a deal that sort of stayed on
[06:18.960 -> 06:27.600] for so long. But we should wrap up this basis just with one thought in our heads and everybody's heads.
[06:27.600 -> 06:30.160] Yes, we are speculating on Alonso will drive or not.
[06:30.160 -> 06:35.720] But let's remember, Aston Martin is also thinking of what's life after Alonso.
[06:35.720 -> 06:41.560] Today, the Aston Martin package seems so much more interesting because Alonso is the only
[06:41.560 -> 06:47.000] driver delivering those podiums, delivering those magical finishes. Imagine if it wasn't Alonso, they wouldn't have had podiums,
[06:47.000 -> 06:52.000] then the value of Honda partnering with Aston Martin wouldn't be as much
[06:52.000 -> 06:59.000] and Aston Martin wouldn't be able to price themselves as high as they probably are going to or already have done so.
[06:59.000 -> 07:02.000] So there is Alonso that's then brought them here.
[07:02.000 -> 07:06.920] Now with a works deal, they need to go a step further after Alonso, because let's face it, Alonso is not going brought them here now with a works deal They need to go a step further after Alonso because let's face it Alonso
[07:06.920 -> 07:13.720] It's not going to be a racing tenures at least that's what one would imagine. Hey, no. Yeah, so what why why do you think so?
[07:13.880 -> 07:19.940] Because you know at some point either he will be forced to consider his age or he will
[07:20.080 -> 07:26.240] Consider his age and there will be a plum management role and an ambassadorassadorial deal etc that will fall in place. That's my...
[07:26.240 -> 07:28.240] I disagree Kunal.
[07:28.240 -> 07:29.240] What do you say?
[07:29.240 -> 07:31.240] I disagree. He's gonna be around forever.
[07:31.240 -> 07:36.240] He's gonna be around. You can't get rid of Fernando. He's just a young guy. The third season only in Formula One. Come on.
[07:36.240 -> 07:39.240] Yeah, the only way to get rid of Fernando. Maybe this is the exit way.
[07:39.240 -> 07:46.280] Maybe the only way to get rid of Fernando Alonso is to give him a Honda GP2 engine and then you have the
[07:46.280 -> 07:51.600] whole thing unfocused. But I'm going to leave it with one more speculation. In this whole
[07:51.600 -> 07:58.360] serious talk of, you know, driver succession, etc. At least at the moment, there are two
[07:58.360 -> 08:02.160] current very upset drivers on the grid. One is Charles Leclerc, you know, there have been
[08:02.160 -> 08:07.840] rumors about him and Mercedes already, which haven't been refuted completely. And there's Lando Norris, for example,
[08:08.800 -> 08:14.320] you know, 2026 is far away. We don't know what Alonso and Stroll's status is going to be. Will
[08:14.320 -> 08:20.480] Leclerc win something? Will, you know, will Audi be able to poach Norris? So many questions. So I
[08:20.480 -> 08:26.700] definitely think Aston Martin is already at the moment thinking of doing driver signings
[08:26.700 -> 08:32.880] for 2026, most definitely, because they will need an A-class driver, A-lister driver to
[08:32.880 -> 08:36.200] take them forward with the new Engine Works partnership.
[08:36.200 -> 08:42.060] It's going to be interesting, but there's only one last question on my mind, and I'm
[08:42.060 -> 08:44.760] going to put you on the slot for this one, Kunal.
[08:44.760 -> 08:48.680] Okay, Honda are coming back. So by which year are Honda going to
[08:48.680 -> 08:54.460] leave again? I'm saying 2030 already. Slappang. They're behaving like as they
[08:54.460 -> 08:59.000] always have done. Like any college person who's getting into a relationship for
[08:59.000 -> 09:02.640] the first time. Okay I like you today, today I don't. Today I like you, today I don't.
[09:02.640 -> 09:05.280] It's a choice like be there or don't.
[09:05.280 -> 09:12.560] So, why be such an emotional kid? Your guess is as good as mine or anyone's, but let's hope
[09:12.560 -> 09:17.760] they stay on for longer because Honda is an exciting brand. The new rules have definitely
[09:17.760 -> 09:23.600] fallen in a place where manufacturers are super interested, you know, they're happy to, you know,
[09:23.600 -> 09:25.760] have multiple manufacturers in one team,
[09:25.760 -> 09:33.200] etc. So let's hope Honda is here to stay and maybe Yuki Sonoda or Ayumu Iwasa. I love how
[09:33.200 -> 09:38.080] the Japanese love and promote themselves, you know, and say, that's it, we need they've actually
[09:38.080 -> 09:41.600] come out now and say we would love to have a Japanese driver in the work. So imagine,
[09:41.600 -> 09:46.000] there's already Alonzo versus Iwasa or Alonzo versus Sonoda or
[09:46.800 -> 09:53.040] you know whoever else they could find be a part of the conversation. So interesting dynamics with
[09:53.040 -> 09:59.360] Honda joining I would say. Not bad, I love it. I love when something big like this happens but
[09:59.360 -> 10:04.560] well I hope you enjoyed this as well folks. It's the first time we've done this one so
[10:04.560 -> 10:06.120] again if you have any feedback,
[10:06.120 -> 10:07.640] please let us know what you think about this.
[10:07.640 -> 10:09.560] A little bit haphazard, but we're trying to see
[10:09.560 -> 10:11.160] if this can work out more often as well
[10:11.160 -> 10:13.320] to supplement the InsideLine F1 podcast.
[10:13.320 -> 10:14.800] So thanks for listening,
[10:14.800 -> 10:17.560] and let's hope we have some other fun news as well
[10:17.560 -> 10:19.880] so that we can come back with more of these Twitter spaces.
[10:19.880 -> None] Thank you, folks. books. you