Horner reveals yet another reason why Honda deal for Aston Martin is smart
A few weeks ago now, Aston Martin and Honda tied the knot: from the '26 season onwards, they will try to become Formula 1 world champions as partners. Not only does the team of currently Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll get access to the engine of a brand that is currently enjoying success with Red Bull, Aston Martin will also soon have a considerable financial advantage.
Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing team boss, is currently working with Honda. He previously indicated that it has been a great partnership (which, incidentally, lasts until the end of 2025) and that Aston Martin will have an excellent engine supplier. So in any case, Aston Martin is saying goodbye to Mercedes, with which it currently maintains a close relationship. That goes beyond just supplying engines.
Horner sees greater independence Aston Martin
"I think they'll get a competitive engine, but they already have a competitive engine. They will perhaps achieve more independence through their architecture, which is currently dictated by another team. It's very expensive for them in the cap. The transferable components come with a big tax on them. So it's not cost-efficient for them to be a customer [with another F1 team]."
In Formula 1, it is common for smaller teams in particular to buy parts from other teams. Haas, for example, has a close partnership with Ferrari. AlphaTauri buys a lot of parts from Red Bull Racing, while Williams and Aston Martin currently take a lot of parts from Mercedes.
Seems legit. We know FIA sets a price. If you can design the engine to fit the car you want and not the other way around it's a win, win. Now if you can build the ICE and have a very large company supply u with top notch electrics and r&d. Even better. Like what RB is doing with Ford.
I dont buy that, its much cheaper to buy parts than do the R&D yourself. Its beneficial for sure, cause you can have the freedom to design the mounting points and gearbox as you want rather than designing those around what you bought. But it's forsure not cheaper .
Think aston doing right thing with get read of merc what you spend on parts form merc you work all the cost out with it .and the vat on top of it as well and do it in house in own team you have to wigh the prose and cons with it
So if its more expensive then why is alpin build own engine then when they not as,big as merc then .
You don't understand how it works in the cost cap. The FIA set a minimum price for each part that you can buy. This price is a lot more than what it cost to build it yourself. It doesn't mean the team pay that for the part but that is the amount that are allocated to the cost cap. Look at it this way. Team 1 sell the suspension to team 2 for 50% of the cost of producing it themselves then buy the hydraulics again from team 2 again for 50% of the cost. This way 2 teams can work together to circumvent the cost cap. With set prices on each component it is cheaper to produce it on your own.
In the long run, it will be a lot cheaper. And buying parts from other team, helps your opponent, so it's a lose lose atm for Aston Martin, but will be win-win. It's always cheaper to buy your own house, than to rent a house. It may be cheaper in the short run, but long run is what matters. Also I'm not sure even on short runs it will be cheaper to pay for Mercedes engine than to get Honda engines for free.
@Cain, well it will only be cheaper of they actually get the initial R&D right ✅, so ots highly critical these 2 maybe 3 seasons, its a brave and correct journey AM is taking.
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