Honda initially announced its withdrawal from F1 in 2020, and officially withdrew from the championship the following year after helping Max Verstappen to his first championship.
However, it continues to supply Red Bull with power units and remains available as part of a supply deal that now runs until the end of the 2025 season.
Honda’s future has since been murky, though, as it faces uncertainty over its options following Red Bull’s decision to develop its own powertrain with Ford from 2026 onwards.
In addition, there has been intense debate among Honda executives over whether to formally return to F1 so soon after their exit.
However, Aston Martin’s impressive progress in F1, combined with its free agency in 2025 after current client Mercedes’ deal ends, make it an ideal candidate for a partnership.
A deal has now been finalized whereby Aston Martin will become Honda’s official manufacturer team in F1.
Aston Martin Performance Technology Group chief executive Martin Whitmarsh said: “Our future partnership with Honda is the final piece of the puzzle in Aston Martin’s ambitious plans for Formula 1.”
Honda said it decided to join F1 so soon after leaving because of the grand prix’s growing sustainability ambitions.
As well as F1’s commitment to net zero carbon emissions by 2030, it is also switching to fully sustainable fuels from 2026, when new powerplants will also be powered by a greater proportion of electricity.
Toshihiro Mibe, Honda’s global chief executive, said: “A key reason we decided to take on a new challenge in F1 is that the world’s top racing form is striving to become a sustainable racing series, which is in line with Honda’s goal of being carbon neutral and it will To be the platform that advances the development of our electrification technologies.
“We believe that the technologies and know-how gained from this new challenge have the potential to be directly applied to our future mass-produced electric vehicles, such as the electric flagship sports car, as well as electrification technologies in various fields, including eVTOL, which is currently being researched and developed. “
Now leading the standings this year after securing the world title with Red Bull in 2021 and 2022, Honda is clear that it is entering into a partnership with Aston Martin to deliver more titles.
Koji Watanabe, president of Honda Racing Corporation, said: “They are currently formulating various measures to strengthen the team and strive to win the F1 championship title.
“Therefore, as they rated our F1 power unit technology very highly, we could understand their genuine attitude and strong passion to win, and we decided to work together to fight for Aston Martin Honda’s title.”
In Monaco, everyone could see the floor of RB19 after Sergio Perez hit the wall in Q1. As a result, his car was hoisted over the wall, exposing the floor. Ted Kravitz told Sky Sports he was surprised by the difference between the floors of Red Bull and those of Mercedes and Ferrari.
Sainz was annoyed when Ferrari called him into the pits on lap 33, a lap after Esteban Ocon’s Alpine, which he followed throughout the first pit stop.
Despite a slow stop in the Alps, Sainz did not overtake the Frenchman and felt Ferrari should have been more patient as his tires had more speed and he was saved when he got stuck behind the Frenchman .
“What the hell! That’s exactly what I said,” he raged on the radio, and when told the purpose of the pit stop was to cover Lewis Hamilton at the back, he replied: “I don’t care about Hamilton. It’s weak.”
Sainz later expressed remorse for his outburst, saying he “shouldn’t have shown it on the radio” during the game.
“Obviously I was going really fast in the lap and it felt like I had more lap times to get in in the clean air.
“I’ve been doing all this management work. It’s frustrating to come in all of a sudden.”
Team boss Vasseur defended the timing of the pit stop, as the team felt the threat from Hamilton’s Mercedes was too great to leave the Spaniard out.
“I think it was a good strategy because when we pitted him it was to avoid losing position against Hamilton,” Vassell said.
“Position is key on this track. It would have been better if we hadn’t been threatened by Hamilton, but in this case I think it’s a good decision.”
Frederic Vasseur, Ferrari team principal and general manager
Sainz, clearly frustrated with being stuck behind Ocon, made an ambitious overtaking attempt at the chicane that left his front wing damaged, which Vassell described as “a bit upbeat and marginal”.
Ferrari also decided not to extend its initial race time, hoping to cover the likes of race winner Verstappen, as well as Fernando Alonso and George Russell.
“On one stage we had to cover other stages on the track so as not to lose position, redo the race after 5:30 and say ‘well, if you extend the suspension then you can replace when it rains Tires’, it’s always easy,” Vassell added.
“But we didn’t know at this stage that we were in a position of losing position compared to our competitors.”
Ferrari lost for the second time when it rained in the final third of the race. Ocon and the two Mercedes cars of Hamilton and Russell pitted on lap 55 as the rain intensified.
Ferrari opted to run an extra lap on the slick tyres, with Sainz turning at Mirabeau before he and Leclerc made their way carefully through the slippery pool to the pits.
That left Leclerc and Sainz behind Hamilton, and to add insult to injury, the double pile behind Leclerc meant Sainz lost again to Pierre Gasly in the Alps.
The two eventually started from fourth and sixth on the grid and crossed the finish line in sixth and eighth respectively.
Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23
Vasseur conceded the call to stay on slicks was a gamble that other teams had taken on the semi-wet track, but trying to reclaim the podium on a track where overtaking was impossible was “worth it”.
“We thought the track wouldn’t be so wet, if you didn’t have to get (the tyres) wet, we would have been on the podium,” the Frenchman explained.
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“It was a gamble for us, the stakes weren’t too high because we didn’t lose places. But it is what it is.
“We knew very well in the game that we had to take risks if we wanted to achieve something. I’m not at all disappointed with the risks we took.”
Peter Windsor admired Max Verstappen’s performance at the Monaco Grand Prix, with the F1 analyst noting the two-time world champion felt completely at home in RB19 despite the harsh conditions.