Honda revamps F1 program ahead of Zandvoort engine upgrade
NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 17, 2026
Honda staff rotation
Honda’s Formula 1 program now runs on a very different model than it used during the Red Bull era. The company rotates staff between road car work and Formula 1, and that has changed the shape of its racing operation. Honda uses the series as a place to develop talent for the wider organization, so the F1 group does more than build a power unit. It also feeds people and ideas back into the rest of the company.
That approach has brought clear trade-offs. Honda’s staff rotation pulled in a lot of new people, but it also left the F1 project short on specific Grand Prix experience early in development. The personnel mix looked different enough that Aston Martin did not fully grasp how much it had changed at first. That gap mattered because Formula 1 rewards routine, detail and a deep feel for the rhythm of race weekends. Honda had to learn that lesson while building its next program, not after it was already established.
The company responded after difficult winter testing by bringing back several employees who had worked on the Red Bull program. Honda said those additions gave the project more expertise, and it said staff development has improved since then. The team now believes it is in a better position to work on its power unit and energy management. That matters because the power unit is not a single problem to solve. It is a collection of systems, and Honda wants more control across all of them.
Aston Martin start
Honda’s first months with Aston Martin were difficult, and the company has built its latest upgrade plan around what it learned from that stretch. The next step is an engine upgrade for its debut at Zandvoort, and Honda says the update will focus entirely on the internal combustion engine. That gives the company a clear target. It wants immediate gains in the part of the package that drives straight-line speed and race pace, and it wants those gains to show up in the car’s performance across the field.
Honda sees the upgrade as part of a longer climb, not a cure-all. The company says it will need more upgrades to close the performance gap. That is the reality of Formula 1 development, where one step forward rarely ends the work. Honda is trying to move from a difficult start to a more stable base, and it is choosing to push on the combustion side first. The company believes that is the best place to begin if it wants to recover lost ground and give Aston Martin more usable performance.
The timing also shows how carefully Honda is managing its comeback. After the difficult opening phase, it shifted personnel, improved the working structure and turned its attention to a focused engine update. That sequence tells the story of a program still in build mode. Honda is not just chasing a single result. It is trying to create a stronger technical foundation before the next set of changes arrives.
Honda future
Honda is already looking beyond the Zandvoort upgrade. The company is targeting further combustion-engine improvements in the future, and it expects slightly different fuel-flow regulations to add another layer of challenge. Honda has warned that those rules could bring back reliability problems similar to the issues it faced earlier in the year. That warning fits the wider picture. Formula 1 development rarely moves in a straight line, and rule changes often force teams to solve one problem while opening another.
That is why Honda’s work on staff development and technical depth matters so much. The company believes it is now in a better position to improve both its power unit and energy management, but it knows the next steps will test that progress. More combustion development is coming, and Honda has already shown that it will reshape its program when the technical picture demands it. The return of experienced staff helped stabilize the project once winter testing exposed the gaps, and Honda views that move as part of a larger rebuild.
The long-term aim remains clear. Honda wants to get back to the top tier of Formula 1 competition again, and it is building toward that goal through personnel changes, targeted upgrades and a deeper technical base. The company has accepted that the road back will take more than one update. It needs a stronger internal-combustion package, better energy management and more room to adapt when the rules shift again.
