Is Honda’s 2026 F1 Engine in Trouble — or Just Stumbling Out of the Gate?

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Big Ambitions, Bigger Questions

Honda’s relationship with Formula 1 is like a bad breakup that keeps turning into a love story. It left. It came back. It dominated. And now, as it preps for an all-new partnership with Aston Martin in 2026, it might be in trouble.

Or maybe it’s just overreacting.

Earlier this year, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) President Koji Watanabe casually dropped that developing its 2026 power unit has been “not so easy” and that the company is “struggling.” Yeah, struggling. That’s not the kind of word you wanna hear from a manufacturer that’s been steamrolling the F1 competition alongside Red Bull for years.

So what’s the deal? Is Honda genuinely behind, or is this just the usual growing pains of developing a new engine under complicated regulations?

A Late Start, A Tough Climb

Let’s be real — Honda didn’t set itself up for an easy ride.

Back in 2020, it announced it was done with F1. The decision made sense at the time: the company wanted to focus on electric mobility, and the hybrid era didn’t exactly scream “long-term investment.” Engineers and resources were shuffled elsewhere — some into aviation, some…