Honda would have “no objection” to letting Fernando Alonso drive his Formula 1 engines if he were to stay with Aston Martin beyond 2025.
The Japanese manufacturer announced on Wednesday morning that it will be a works partner of Aston Martin from 2026, having committed to a formal return to Formula 1 just three years after announcing the exit.
The Aston Martin deal means the possibility of a renewed collaboration with Alonso, who has had a checkered past with Honda. The Spaniard bore the brunt of Honda’s initial difficulties as the engine maker returned to Formula 1 with McLaren in 2015.
At the Japanese Grand Prix that year, Alonso made the famous radio call “GP2 engine, aaaarrgggh” in front of Honda management, expressing his dissatisfaction with the engine’s problems.
Honda President Watanabe bears no grudges
Alonso later regretted those words, but the incident has become iconic, describing the situation he found himself in at the time. While Honda bosses were less than impressed by Alonso’s comments, current bosses agree that they no longer take offense at the matter.
When asked if Honda would allow Alonso to drive one of its cars, Honda Racing Corporation President Koji Watanabe said, “If we team up again with Alonso as a driver, we have no objection to him driving.”
However, Alonso’s presence at Aston Martin until 2026 is not guaranteed as he would be 45 that year. However, the two-time world champion is showing no signs of a lack of commitment or lack of speed at the moment. Aston Martin CEO Martin Whitmarsh explains that Alonso’s presence on the team was never a point of discussion with Honda, despite the history between them.
Aston Martin: “Fernando is a very intelligent person”
“No, it wasn’t,” he says. “It’s clear that Fernando is doing a great job in the team and we’re happy to have him on our team. He’s a great contributor both on and off the track. I’ve of course spoken to Fernando a while ago about direction talked about, which we want to take. He’s a very intelligent person.”
“I’m sure everyone remembers some remarks that were probably made at one point in the heat of the moment, which may have been quite memorable for some. But I think they understand and respect what Honda is doing.”
Whitmarsh hints that Alonso is well aware that Honda’s current status in Formula 1, as championship winners with Red Bull, is a world away from its initial foray into the turbo-hybrid era with McLaren.
Whitmarsh hopes Alonso will stay on until 2026
He adds: “Honda won the World Championships in 2021 and 2022 and if we can’t beat them this year, they will do it again. So they’re a very good partner for us. And I think Fernando sees that too.”
“But 2026 is probably outside of his planning horizon at the moment. We need to give him a car that he can consistently win races in. We’ve made a reasonable step forward this year, but we’re not where we need to be yet.”
“We’re developing the team, the facilities and we’re going to get stronger. And I’m sure we’ll have a discussion about Fernando before 2026, where Fernando is and what his future is. I hope he has some more years and it would be great if he is as fit and competitive as he is today, then it would be fantastic to have him in the car again in 2026.”
Honda has also stated that it has no intention of interfering with any driver decisions at Aston Martin. Watanabe said: “Our stance remains unchanged and I think that driver selection is entirely up to the team and not something a powertrain supplier like us should do. We will leave driver selection to the team.”