Honda Eager to Work With Veteran Alonso Despite Chequered F1 History

If Fernando Alonso decides to remain at Aston Martin through 2025, Honda will have "no objections whatsoever" to him competing with one of its racing engines. 

With the Aston Martin agreement, Alonso, whose history with Honda has been rocky, may resume their collaboration. When Honda returned to F1 in 2015 with McLaren, the Spaniard took on the burden of the Japanese manufacturer's early difficulties.

Alonso made the infamous speech "GP2 engine, aaaarrgggh" in front of Honda's senior management at the Japanese Grand Prix that year due to his continuous displeasure with its issues. Although Alonso afterwards expressed remorse for his statements, the episode has become emblematic of the predicament he was in at the time.

Alonso's comments were not well received by Honda executives, but the company's current leaders are adamant that there are no unresolved animosities in the matter.

Watanabe's comment 

Koji Watanabe, the president of Honda Corporation, said when asked about playing with Alonso again: "If we are to team up with Alonso again, as our driver, we have no objections whatsoever in him driving."

Whitmarsh on Alonso and Honda 

Despite their past interactions, Honda never raised the subject of Alonso joining the team, according to Martin Whitmarsh, group CEO of Aston Martin Performance Technologies.

He said that he is sure that Alonso knows how good the Honda engines are, as their results with Red Bull reflect their elite status.

He said: "Honda won the '21 and '22 world championships, and, unless we can beat them this year, they're going to do it again. So they are a very great partner for us. And I think Fernando sees that. But 2026 is probably outside his planning horizon at the moment. We've got to give him a car that can consistently win races. We've made a reasonable step forward this year, but we're not yet where we need to be."

"We are continuing to develop the team, the facilities, and we'll get stronger. And we'll have a discussion before 2026 I'm sure about Fernando, where Fernando is, and what his future lies. I hope he'll be around for a number of years and it will be great if he's as fit and as competitive as he is today. Then it would be fantastic to have him in the car in 2026 as well," he said about Alonso.