Aug.19 (GMM) Honda believes it can close much of the gap to Mercedes next season and have Formula 1’s strongest engine by 2028 at the latest.
The Japanese manufacturer endured a disastrous start to its new works partnership with Aston Martin, but confidence has risen after the team’s heavily revised B-spec chassis showed signs of progress before the summer break.
Honda will now add its own contribution at Zandvoort, where an upgraded power unit will debut.
“I think that while we won’t have the best engine by the beginning of 2027, we will be getting closer to our main competitor,” Honda F1 chief engineer Shintaro Orihara told f1-insider.com.
“We will continue to work hard to have the strongest engine by mid-2027, or at the latest by 2028.”
Orihara says the focus is not simply on outright power, but on making the Honda package work more effectively with Aston Martin’s developing chassis.
“After the summer break, we want to be right back at the front with our engine,” he continued.
“We are in close talks with Aston Martin to better integrate our power unit into their new chassis.”
That follows Aston Martin’s substantial pre-break upgrade package, which included 11 changes and represented the first significant step away from the deeply disappointing launch specification.