Honda announce major F1 shake-up amid miserable first Aston Martin season

Honda Racing Corporation will replace the leader of its F1 power unit programme from 1 October, installing Yoichiro Fukao as 'large project leader' in place of Tetsushi Kakuda, who oversaw the development that powered Max Verstappen to four consecutive drivers' titles with Red Bull.

The change comes 13 rounds into a wretched debut campaign alongside Aston Martin, with the works partnership languishing 10th and last in the constructors' championship on just three points, all scored by Fernando Alonso.

The two-time F1 drivers' champion sits 19th in the drivers' standings, with a best finish of ninth at the Dutch Grand Prix. Lance Stroll, meanwhile, is yet to trouble the scorers.

Honda framed the transition as a planned succession designed to transfer technical expertise to the next generation of engineers, and to establish a development framework ahead of further regulatory changes expected from 2027.

Fukao, currently serving as Honda's deputy F1 project leader and head of its software division, has been with the F1 programme since 2002, working on engine and gearbox control systems before a spell in MotoGP and mass-production hybrid development. He returned to the F1 project in 2014 and has held increasingly senior roles since.

A difficult start, and a modest upgrade

Honda's RA626H power unit suffered severe vibration issues from the outset of the season, with concerns at one stage that the problem could cause nerve damage to drivers. Neither Aston Martin car finished any of the first three races due to reliability failures linked to the Honda unit.

A "Spec 2" upgrade introduced at Zandvoort addressed the worst of the vibration problems and delivered what Honda's trackside general manager Shintaro Orihara called a step forward.

"We have observed a step forward in terms of performance," Orihara said. "We have confirmed on dyno, so that was a positive thing we found."

Yet Orihara was also candid about the scale of the deficit, estimating the upgrade was worth between 0.05 and 0.1 seconds per lap, a figure Alonso essentially dismissed as irrelevant given the chasm to the front.

Aston Martin remained around two seconds off the pace at the Hungarian Grand Prix, even after a comprehensive 16-element aerodynamic upgrade to the AMR26 that included a reworked floor, diffuser, front wing, sidepod inlets and rear wing.

The chassis work has been widely acknowledged as a significant step, but without a competitive power unit underneath it, the gains have counted for little in the standings.

From Red Bull highs to Aston Martin lows

Honda's pedigree in the current turbo-hybrid era is beyond question. The Japanese manufacturer powered Verstappen to four straight drivers' titles and Red Bull to consecutive constructors' championships in 2022 and 2023, amassing more than 70 grand prix victories across its partnership with the Milton Keynes team.

That success, though, came after Honda's painful three-year stint with McLaren from 2015 to 2017, a period defined by chronic unreliability, power deficits and, eventually, a very public divorce.

There are uncomfortable parallels to those early McLaren struggles in the current Aston Martin project, though Honda has been careful to manage expectations.

Before the season, Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe defined success in 2026 as ensuring the new works partnership functions as one integrated team, with championship ambitions positioned as a medium- to long-term goal.

Orihara has confirmed there will be no further major power unit updates this season. "This is the only major update for this year," he said. "The major update will be in 2027."