As the once rising sun starts setting again over the Suzuka paddock, shrieks echo from the opposite side of the main straight. Adjacent to the Honda-owned circuit’s iconic Ferris wheel, excited Japanese fans hurtle down the slope of Suzuka’s rollercoaster.
It is an apt metaphor for Honda’s F1 journey over the past decade, from ignominy to world title success and back.
A decade on from Fernando Alonso’s infamous “GP2 engine” comment, a symptom of an uneasy relationship with McLaren that hurt the proud Japanese marque’s pride deeply, Honda appears to be in equally dire straits.
Honda’s current partner Aston Martin has yet to finish a grand prix, as vibrations from the battery shake apart the team’s aspirations of starting their bold new era on the front foot. Those vibrations initially bricked the team’s batteries, a situation which now appears under relative control. But the vibrations are still transferred onto the chassis and with it the driver’s hands, forcing Alonso to retire in China.
That’s far from the only issue, as Honda’s power unit is also too heavy and underpowered and the only Honda-running team’s lack of mileage isn’t helping the manufacturer’s development.
There are no miracles in F1, so Honda has not had the time to implement anything but band-aid fixes and temporary countermeasures in the precious few weeks it had until its Japanese homecoming.
So, while success is still far away, the biggest short-term goal for the storied brand is to be respectable, starting by seeing the chequered flag on the circuit it owns.
Much like Aston Martin’s future prospects, Suzuka attendees are on a rollercoaster ride
Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / Getty Images
“This is a very important race for Honda. This is our home race. Always, we want to deliver good results for Japanese fans,” said Shintaro Orihara, Honda’s trackside engineering lead, paying tribute to the many fans sporting Honda gear as they politely queued for Thursday morning’s pitlane walk.
“Unfortunately, at the moment, we are not in the place where we wanted to be. But always, we want to try to maximise our performance and also do maximum effort to show our fans what Honda is doing.
“When we looked at the grandstands, we found some banners or flags saying kind or warm words for Honda. That gives us a better feeling. Thank you very much to the Japanese fans.”
“Unfortunately, at the moment, we are not in the place where we wanted to be”
Shintaro Orihara
It will take a lot more than vibes to get back into the game, though, and while performance is set to be a long-term concern under the current regulatory framework, even with the various catch-up mechanics in place, it is expected Honda could at least bring some new hardware as early as Miami to improve its punishing lack of reliability.
As a painful start to 2026 dawned on the works partnership, Aston Martin looked set to repeat some of McLaren’s worst mistakes, with interim team boss Adrian Newey’s pointed comments during his various media sessions in Melbourne ranging from unhelpful to outright embarrassing, suggesting Honda had been too busy producing solar panels during its brief hiatus from F1 power unit development.
Bad vibrations were not only damaging batteries and hands but were also threatening to rip apart the fragile fabric of F1’s would-be superteam, right from the very start. Newey, still very much Aston’s main man, has now wisely turned his full focus towards the technical matters he is so brilliant at, as Aston continues its hunt for a unifying figurehead. That’s why sweet-talking Audi departee Jonathan Wheatley would be such an astute hire, as we expect will eventually happen.
As was the case during its McLaren nadir, Honda has had to swallow its pride and quietly focus on the job at hand, which the Japanese company always does when the going gets tough. The lack of racing in April will give it more time to do so.
Koji Watanabe will oversee Honda’s recovery efforts
Photo by: Joe Portlock / Getty Images
Yes, Honda’s fraught McLaren stint took several character-building years to emerge from. But emerge it did, winning its first race with Red Bull in 2019 before world championship success eventually followed.
That’s the north star for the current iteration of Honda to follow, and it may well be foolish to bet against the company. But until Honda gets there, it will be in for a bumpy rollercoaster ride, much like Suzuka’s passionate fans.
Fernando Alonso has experienced a shaky Honda start to a partnership before
Photo by: Lars Baron / Getty Images
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