Lawrence Stroll-led Aston Martin Could Snub Mercedes and Use a Rival’s Engine From 2026 Season Onwards

Vidit Dhawan | 19/04/2023
Lawrence Stroll-led Aston Martin Could Snub Mercedes and Use a Rival's Engine From 2026 Season Onwards

After guiding Red Bull’s Max Verstappen to his maiden world championship in 2021, Honda will return as an F1 engine provider in the 2026 season. FIA confirmed the same earlier this year when they announced six engine suppliers from 2026 onwards.

The other suppliers include Mercedes, Ferrari, Audi, Alpine Racing and Red Bull Ford. Since Red Bull are planning to produce their own engines in a partnership with Ford, Honda has reportedly approached the Aston Martin F1 team to become their engine supplier.

Will Honda partner with Aston Martin in 2026?

According to Motorsport.com España, Honda is currently in negotiations with Aston Martin for an exclusive deal beginning in 2026. The report states that Aston Martin, which currently uses Mercedes engines, is considering a new power unit supplier as they no longer want to be a customer team.

As per the report, Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll is well aware of the limitations that exist when his side are a customer team. It is always difficult for a customer team to outperform a works team since they do not have much decision-making power over the production of the engines.

However, if the Silverstone-based team are to produce their own engines, they will also face several challenges. The biggest challenge that they will arguably face is to produce their own wind tunnel.

Aston Martin have a dream start to 2023 season

After finishing seventh in the Constructors’ Championship in the past two seasons, Aston Martin currently find themselves second in the points table. With 65 points after the first three races, they have already scored more points than they did in the entirety of 2022 (55).

Double world champion Fernando Alonso has played a huge part in helping his team deliver strong results week in and week out. The Spaniard has finished on the podium in each of the three races so far and currently finds himself third in the championship, just behind the two Red Bull drivers of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.

On the other hand, Lance Stroll has also scored some valuable points in the other Aston Martin. Despite starting the season not being at 100%, the Canadian has so far scored 20 points after the first three races. He finished sixth in Bahrain and an outstanding fourth in Australia. Meanwhile, in Saudi Arabia, he suffered from a disappointing DNF.

Following a strong start to their 2023 season, Aston Martin will now hope to carry forward this momentum to the next race in Baku. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix will take place from April 28 to 30.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Aston Martin Fernando Alonso Honda Lance Stroll Lawrence Stroll

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Vidit Dhawan

Vidit Dhawan, a Formula 1 Editor at The SportsRush, is intrinsically connected with everything around the sport — from the engine roar, the cacophony on the grandstands to the action. He fell in love with F1 during the inaugural Indian GP in 2011. After more than a decade of deep engagement with the sport, Vidit insists he will remain a lifelong fan of Fernando Alonso, and sees the future of F1 in Charles Leclerc. A sports fanatic from childhood, he discovered his passion for writing while pursuing a bachelor's degree in international and global studies. Vidit has written over 1,700 articles, ranging from news reports to opinions. He thrives covering live action, and loves to dig into the contrasting personalities in the F1 bandwagon and narrate their journey in life as well as the sport. Vidit also follows tennis and football, enjoys playing as well as coaching chess.

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