Fernando Alonso has expressed that it will be a “true pleasure” for him to reunite with Honda at Aston Martin once the parties become aligned in Formula 1 in 2026.
Aston Martin has announced that Alonso will continue to represent the British outfit once it heads into the sport’s next regulation overhaul with the Japanese marque.
Alonso had been enticed to re-sign for McLaren amid the promise that Honda’s F1 return with the Woking-based squad would rekindle the partnership’s past glories.
But the Spaniard would be laboured with underpowered and unreliable power units from the outset, prompting him to make his famous ‘GP2 engine’ remark at Suzuka.
However, Honda would regroup after McLaren cut the agreement short three seasons in and has since powered Red Bull to three Drivers and two Constructors’ titles.
Alonso has admitted that Aston Martin’s impending engine tie-up with Honda was a big reason behind his decision to pen a multi-term renewal to remain in the sport.
“Part of the decision to stay at Aston is because they are with Honda for 2026, with Aramco the best partner in the world,” Alonso told media including Motorsport Week.
“Honda is definitely a manufacturer that has so much success in Formula 1 and not [just] Formula 1 in the world of motorsport that is always a company that I respected.
“It didn’t work for us in McLaren, in the years that they came to the sport, but right after that they fix all the problems and they are currently dominating the sport.”
“They’ve been World Champion for the last few years [with Red Bull]. So I think they will have a baseline for 2026 that is already very strong.
“But also they have the capacity in Sakura of building something really nice. I visited Sakura in 2014, 2015, 2016. And I didn’t visit yet at the moment, but I know that they are really, really motivated there. Obviously with the sustainable fuels that we will have in 2026 this is something that also I would love to experiment.
“We have as I said before, with Aramco a great partner. So yeah, I see a win-win situation and I respect a lot of the Japanese culture as you all know, probably.
“We just came from Japan, special race, always a special helmet when I race in Japan, a Samurai tattoo on my back. So there are a lot of links always with Japan and in 2026 it is appealing and hopefully, after experience with McLaren Honda and the IndyCar as well, we have now the opportunity to work again together. That for me is a true pleasure.”
Alonso believes that Aston Martin’s continued growth with its new state-of-the-art base and impending status as a works team stands it in good stead for the revamp.
“We are going into the unknown for sure in terms of regulations, but if I had to choose one, by feeling, I would choose our project and our engine and our power unit,” he said.
“One, because I think they are dominating the sport as I said now, and they have a very strong engine for Red Bull and AlphaTauri [rebranded to RB this season].
“And two, with the new fuels and the new regulations they will have all the tools available to succeed. This is how I feel.”
Alonso explained that he intended to seal a deal that would guarantee he competed with F1’s next-generation cars once he decided to further his career in the series.
“It was an important point I will not lie,” he proclaimed. “To commit to a one-year project it didn’t make sense for me.
“It’s not that I had one year proposals elsewhere or anything like that, I was just very clear to Aston in the first conversation that the appealing part of this project is everything that we are building; the new campus last year the wind tunnel this year, it could be the new regulations in 2026 and Honda coming in as a partner.
“For me, that was a must, to enter new regulations with a new project with a new wind tunnel and also with Honda as a partner it was something for me that was very, very important.”
