{"id":32532,"date":"2025-04-07T04:23:57","date_gmt":"2025-04-07T08:23:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/?p=32532"},"modified":"2025-04-07T04:38:20","modified_gmt":"2025-04-07T08:38:20","slug":"honda-we-will-have-our-say-on-aston-martin-driver-line-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/2025\/04\/07\/honda-we-will-have-our-say-on-aston-martin-driver-line-up\/","title":{"rendered":"Honda: “We will have our say” on Aston Martin driver line-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Aston Martin fielding a decidedly average car this season, all eyes are on their 2026 development. As Adrian Newey<\/a> and Honda<\/a> integrated themselves into the project, Aston are expected to become contenders when the new regulations arrive.<\/p>\n

Honda’s success with Red Bull, thanks to its well-established infrastructure and highly skilled personnel, puts them in a good position ahead of 2026.<\/p>\n

Excitement about the Japanese manufacturer’s arrival at Aston Martin has sparked frequent hypothetical driver changes among fans.<\/p>\n

Specifically, Max Verstappen<\/a> is often mentioned as a potential candidate to join Aston Martin in the future.<\/p>\n

All eyes on Honda and Aston Martin heading into 2026<\/h2>\n

In all likelihood, Aston Martin will retain an unchanged driver line-up for next season.<\/p>\n

Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll<\/a> both have multi-year contracts, which don’t expire until the end of 2026.<\/p>\n

Considering that Alonso continues to outperform his teammate (with a 3-0 lead in their 2025 qualifying head-to-head), the Double World Champion’s presence is obviously essential.<\/p>\n

Although Stroll did well to keep his nose clean and collect points in Australia and China, the Spaniard remains the British team’s lead driver.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, Stroll himself has a relatively secure position – due to his father Lawrence’s ownership of the team.<\/p>\n

His strong points haul to start 2025 will likely prevent his position from being under major scrutiny this season.<\/p>\n

Aston Martin<\/a> aren’t competitive enough to dominate headlines anyway, meaning their inter-team head-to-head will generally go under the radar.<\/p>\n

Still, assuming they can deliver a competitive package with Honda in 2026, their driver line-up is likely to become a hot topic.<\/p>\n

It was much the same in 2023, when the AMR23 was fast enough to create a spotlight on the disparity between Alonso and Stroll.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Fernando Alonso in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Zak Mauger\/LAT Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Honda to play a role in driver selection<\/h4>\n

There has been speculation for some time about how extensively Honda could influence Aston Martin’s line-up.<\/p>\n

This discussion is often centred around Lance Stroll, and whether his security at the team will continue indefinitely.<\/p>\n

In a recent interview, President of Honda Racing Koji Watanabe shed some light on this topic:<\/p>\n

“It is an honour to work together again with Newey at Aston Martin,”<\/em> he told The Japan Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“We will work together to create a competitive F1 car.<\/em><\/p>\n

“The number of seats will be reduced [that Honda will provide engines for]. <\/em><\/p>\n

“However, as for us, we will continue to voice our opinions as Honda in deciding the drivers for 2026 and beyond.<\/em><\/p>\n

“Obviously, the team had the final say in deciding which drivers join the team…<\/em><\/p>\n

“But the situation will be the same [like at Red Bull] where we will have our say.”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"
Lance Stroll of Canada in Suzuka, Japan. (Photo by Mark Thompson\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Verstappen factor<\/h4>\n

Over the last few days, Max Verstappen and Honda have expressed their mutual admiration for each other.<\/p>\n

Both parties have made clear they wish for a reunion at some point in the future – although whether this will actually materialise is a complicated matter.<\/p>\n

Regardless of whether Red Bull can consistently challenge McLaren<\/a>, Verstappen is likely continue at the Austrian team until at least 2026.<\/p>\n

His exit clauses (linked to performance) can only be activated under certain conditions. These are unlikely to be met whilst Red Bull are still winning races.<\/p>\n

However, when the 2026 regulations arrive, Red Bull will face arguably their biggest test as an F1 team.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Max Verstappen, Sergio Perez, and Fernando Alonso, talk in Parc Ferme after Qualifying<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It will be immensely difficult to keep their position as a front-running team – given that their engine department is still in its relative infancy.<\/p>\n

In this scenario, Aston Martin could become an attractive destination and alternative for Max Verstappen.<\/p>\n

Should they become a race-winning team in 2026, Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll’s positions will be re-assessed.<\/p>\n

If Alonso, for example, continues to outshine his teammate, Honda could impact the degree to which Stroll’s position is protected.<\/p>\n

Before the latest Red Bull driver shuffle, Yuki Tsunoda<\/a> was often mentioned as a potential Aston Martin candidate.<\/p>\n

Of course, the Japanese driver’s position at Red Bull changes things drastically on this front.<\/p>\n

As ever, deciphering the F1 market is a complicated task – especially where Red Bull are involved.<\/p>\n

Regardless, Honda are likely to add a new dimension to the decision-making process at Aston Martin in 2026 and beyond.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With Aston Martin fielding a decidedly average car this season, all eyes are on their 2026 development. As Adrian Newey and Honda integrated themselves into the project, Aston are expected to become contenders when the new regulations arrive. Honda’s success with Red Bull, thanks to its well-established infrastructure and highly skilled personnel, puts them in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4927,"featured_media":32537,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[1566,2452,526],"class_list":["post-32532","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-formula-1","category-news","tag-aston-martin","tag-f1-2025-season","tag-honda"],"modified_by":"Jaden Diaz-Ndisang","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32532","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4927"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32532"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32532\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32541,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32532\/revisions\/32541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32532"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32532"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/motorsports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32532"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}