Honda confirmed its full return to F1 on Wednesday as it announced a deal with Aston Martin in time for the upcoming 2026 new power unit regulations – which will feature higher output MGU-K and fully sustainable fuel , and cancel the expensive MGU-H.

This brings the number of powertrain suppliers at the start to six, as Audi also joins as Sauber’s partner, while Red Bull has linked up with Ford over the new rules.

But Steiner doesn’t think more proliferation of factory entities will diminish the success that customer teams can achieve, and Haas sees no need to try to attract support from factory manufacturers.

Plus: Aston Martin’s Honda deal reveals its true F1 mentality

“I’m not going to say you need to (be a working group), I mean, you need to work on where you want to be in five to 10 years,” he said.

“I think we’re all overthinking what’s going to happen in ’26 right now. I think there will be solutions because not everyone can have a working team.

“It looks like there are only six engine manufacturers in ’26. So four teams need to use customer engines. We’ll be one of those in ’26.

“But, going forward, we need to see how Formula 1 is going because – I don’t want to sound negative – but manufacturers come and go, teams stay, so we need to think about that as well.

“It could also be that the team is happy not to be a manufacturer for five years. So let’s see what time will bring. But, at the moment, I think we’re ready for 26 years. We already have customer engines And made the best out of it.”

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR23, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14

Photography: Mark Sutton/ motorsport pictures

Steiner cites Aston Martin’s current advantage over its supplier team Mercedes as an example of how customer teams can differentiate themselves.

He further expanded on the impact of the new rules, adding that uncertainty about which powertrains will come out of the front blocks in 2026 will increase anxiety as a working group.

“I’ll just give you one example, Aston Martin: what engine are they using? Mercedes. Where is Aston Martin? In front of Mercedes at the moment,” Steiner said.

“While you all think the future will change, you must also always live in reality.

“There’s a good chance that the client team can do a better job than the engineering team, and like what’s happening now, you have to live with it, it’s not something I would dream of.

“Then in 2026, there are six more engine manufacturers. How do you know they’re all doing as well? Maybe two or three are doing worse, but if you pick the right manufacturer, you’re on the other side. Front.

“So, there are benefits to being a customer. If you go out there and make your own engine, and the engine isn’t good, what have you achieved?

“I think it’s all open and only the future will tell. I think we can envision a lot of scenarios that could and should happen, but the fact is that right now the customer team is beating the engineering team — not by the way, a Terrible work team!”