Honda is hoping that a recent leadership shakeup could salvage their 2026 performance.
In light of their struggles in delivering a reliable power unit to the Aston Martin F1 Team, Honda is making a leadership change in their Formula One power unit development programme. On September 14, Honda Racing Corporation has replaced the team's current LPL (Large Project Leader), Tetsushi Kakuda, with Yoichiro Fukao.
This change of leadership will be effective on October 1, 2026, which means that both Kakuda and Fukao will continue with their current duties until the end of the month.
In his present role, Fukao assumes the duties of Assistant LPL, which also translates to the titles of Deputy Leader of the F1 Project and Head of the Software Division.
Fukao joined Honda in 2002 and immediately worked on their F1 project, specifically for the Development of Engine and Gearbox Controls Systems department. At the time, Honda was providing free engines and factory support to the British American Racing (BAR) in F1, as well as free factory engines to Jordan Grand Prix.
Honda continues to build its relationship with Aston Martin
The first year of the Honda-Aston Martin power unit partnership has been tumultuous, to say the least. But you've got to tip your hat to the synergy they have early in the relationship.
Back in August, Aston Martin technical chief Adrian Newey had a positive takeaway out of all the struggles they had this season. The former Red Bull engineer said that Aston Martin has developed a "close working relationship" with Honda.
According to Newey, they're headed in the right direction because an improvement in the relationship typically results in an improvement in performance.
Still, there's more work to be done if they want to set a proper cornerstone for their 2027 efforts.
Honda is looking forward to 2027
Recently, Newey hinted that they're bringing performance upgrades when the F1 grid returns to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. They're coming off another unproductive weekend at Madrid, where Lance Stroll DNF'd due to brake failure and Fernando Alonso settled for a 17th place finish.
But as for Honda, they're not expecting any major improvements on the power unit this year. Earlier this month, Honda trackside chief Shintaro Orihara provided a reality check, hinting that they're postponing the big updates to the 2027 season.
So, if you're an Aston Martin fan, you still have a few months to endure this very difficult year. But with a proven engine manufacturer like Honda and a champion engineer like Adrian Newey, we won't be surprised if 2027 is a stark contrast to Aston Martin's 2026 performance.
