Honda vows to 'never give up' after shocking 2026 start

Honda Racing Corporation President Koji Watanabe has issued a defiant pledge that the manufacturer "will never give up" following a disastrous start to its 2026 Formula 1 campaign with Aston Martin. After seven rounds, the partnership remains anchored to the back of the grid with a single championship point and persistent reliability failures threatening to derail the season.

Why it matters:

Honda's return as a full power unit supplier was expected to restore the Japanese giant to winning ways, but the scale of its early struggles has shocked the paddock. With rivals pulling clear under the new regulations, the pressure is mounting to stop the rot before the gap becomes insurmountable. Watanabe's intervention signals the board knows the current trajectory is untenable.

The details:

• The Aston Martin-Honda partnership has scored just one point in 2026, earned by Fernando Alonso in an attritional Monaco Grand Prix.
• Alonso and Lance Stroll have suffered eight combined retirements across seven rounds, highlighting severe reliability concerns.
• Honda's internal combustion engine is widely regarded as the weakest on the grid, compounding the team's midfield struggles.
• Watanabe referenced Honda's troubled 2015 return with McLaren, noting the manufacturer grew stronger by refusing to surrender.
• Following the Spanish Grand Prix, the two organizations held a team gathering to improve communication and reinforce trust.

What's next:

The road ahead remains steep. Honda is pushing to improve its 2026 power unit, but curing performance deficits and chronic reliability simultaneously is a monumental task. The manufacturer hopes its strengthened Aston Martin partnership and lessons from 2015 can accelerate the turnaround. For now, the paddock is watching to see if Honda's defiance translates into tangible gains before the season slips away.