Sound of F1 2026 revealed by Honda ahead of Aston Martin tie-up

Honda have revealed the sound of the 2026 F1 season by posting a clip of their engine.

The Japanese manufacturer is making a full-scale F1 return next season by becoming Aston Martin’s works power unit supplier.

Honda officially left F1 at the end of 2021 but continued their relationship with Red Bull through an engine support deal, which saw both the Red Bull and Racing Bulls teams powered by Honda until the end of 2025.

But with Red Bull switching to their first in-house power unit in collaboration with Ford for F1’s 2026 rules reset, Honda are teaming up with Aston Martin, who were previously a Mercedes customer.

On Friday, Honda posted a short clip on social media of what their 2026 power unit will sound like.

“The relationship between the engineers is very strong now, but my expectation is that it will improve and intensify the deeper we get into the project,” Honda Racing’s President, Koji Watanabe, recently told Aston Martin’s official website.

“The common ground at the start was this winning spirit, and talking to Lawrence [Stroll], or any of the leadership team at the AMR Technology Campus, there has always been this feeling of being one team. That’s very important, the ‘one team’ philosophy.

“At the moment, there are Aston Martin Aramco engineers working at HRC Sakura in Japan, and HRC engineers in Silverstone at the AMR Technology Campus.

“We’re working very closely through this relationship – there’s a huge amount of knowledge and experience flowing between our organisations.

“[Time difference] is something we can turn to our advantage. Japan is awake and working while the UK is sleeping, and vice versa, so the project is moving forward 24 hours a day.

“When anyone comes into work, they can have a new set of results and fresh data delivered from the other side of the world.”

What engine is every F1 team using in 2026?

McLaren - Mercedes

Mercedes - Mercedes

Red Bull - Red Bull Powertrains with Ford

Ferrari - Ferrari

Williams - Mercedes

Racing Bulls - Red Bull Powertrains with Ford

Aston Martin - Honda

Haas - Ferrari

Audi - Audi

Alpine - Mercedes

Cadillac - Ferrari