Honda targets late 2027 return to F1 front after painful Aston Martin start

Honda is targeting a return to the front of the Formula 1 power unit field by late 2027 or early 2028, with chief engineer Shintaro Orihara acknowledging the Japanese manufacturer’s opening season alongside Aston Martin has been harder than anticipated.

Orihara, who serves as general trackside manager and chief engineer on Honda’s F1 project, admitted in January that the new era would be problematic — a prediction that has proven accurate. The current Honda operation looks markedly different from the personnel structure that delivered world championships alongside Red Bull and Max Verstappen, and that transition has contributed to the early struggles.

A first step toward recovery arrives at Zandvoort, where Honda will introduce its first ADUO upgrade of the year, focused entirely on the internal combustion engine. The upgrade is designed to bring Honda back into the “racing field” in terms of engine performance, though Orihara is clear that multiple further steps will be needed to close the gap to the leading suppliers.

The longer-term roadmap points firmly toward 2027. While that season brings slightly revised fuel flow rate regulations, Orihara says Honda’s development direction remains unchanged.

“We need to improve our combustion performance even further,” Orihara said. “We will still focus on improving the performance of our combustion engine, and we want to bring some bigger steps for that in 2027. That is our main focus point.”

Beyond raw engine performance, Honda is also working with Aston Martin on better integrating the power unit into Adrian Newey’s chassis design. Early in 2025 there was considerable discussion about the complexity of last-minute requests during the car’s development, but with a full year of collaboration now building, both parties see room to improve the packaging for next season.

“We are talking closely with Aston Martin to integrate our power unit better into their new chassis,” Orihara said. “We are now focusing on developing a good engine for 2027 and also working closely with Aston Martin behind the scenes.”

Neither Silverstone nor Sakura is entertaining talk of race victories or championships at this stage, but Honda’s previous spell in the sport — which also began in difficulty before culminating in title success with Red Bull — provides a reference point for what a sustained recovery can look like. Orihara stopped short of naming a precise date for when Honda expects to be genuinely competitive, noting that performance trajectories in Formula 1 are inherently difficult to predict.