Aston Martin 'encouraged' by Honda collaboration: 'They are really pushing'
F1 News
Japanese manufacturer Honda will supply engines for Aston Martin from 2026. Currently, Honda supplies power units for Red Bull Racing and VCARB. Mike Krack, Aston Martin's team boss, ran media through the latest updates in the project, as he is very excited by the progress that has been made between his team and champion engine supplier Honda.
Honda has been an engine supplier to the Red Bull Racing since 2019. During this partnership, there have been many highs, as the engine has been a reliable partner overall. Of course, there have been some hiccups, but Red Bull's outstanding success with Honda outweighs the low moments. In the beginning, the Honda engines had reliability problems, and Max Verstappen dropped out of a fair few races. Honda evolved into creating an almost bulletproof engine for Red Bull. It was vital in their 2023 success, where the team won 21 of 22 races.
How is the cooperation going so far?
From 2026, Red Bull will team up with Ford to use its own power unit. Honda has committed to Aston Martin from that year. The Silverstone-based squad is already busy forming this relationship. Meetings are already taking place, but have been for some time, says Aston Martin boss Mike Krack.
"No, no, the meetings that are coming up are just a sequence of meetings that have been planned since we started the collaboration. There is no, this is not a kick-off or a start, this has been, this goes on for long already," he revealed after the Singapore Grand Prix.
Aston Martin excited: 'Honda are real racers'
The Aston Martin team boss is very pleased with how things have been going so far. "Very well, very well. It's very encouraging, they are really, they are racers. They are pushing, pushing, pushing and the same goes for the collaboration with Aramco, so we have like a tripartite collaboration there, which works really well The team principal concluded.
Still, Krack believes that results will be the most important aspect of their collaboration. "But again, you know, it's not the collaboration that matters, it's the result at the end of the day." Concluded Krack. Currently, Aston Martin finds itself in fifth place in the constructors standings with 86 points. The British team are 243 points behind fourth-placed Mercedes but still sits 52 points ahead of closest challengers VCARB.
This article was written in collaboration with Sandy van Wijngaarden
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28 September 2024
