Honda ‘target’ revealed as Alonso Aston Martin future decision looms

Fernando Alonso will decide after the summer break whether he continues in Formula 1, and with Aston Martin. A key Honda “target” is not yet complete.

Honda wants to put Alonso back in a position to contend for a world championship, his second and most recent crown coming all the way back in 2006. With Alonso claiming that his enjoyment of the sport is the critical factor, Honda’s aim could be in jeopardy, as Alonso has spoken out against the new Formula 1 regulations.

Honda shares its unfulfilled Fernando Alonso ‘target’

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After a disastrous start for the Aston Martin and Honda alliance in F1 2026, Hungary showed encouraging signs of recovery.

Alonso drove the B-spec AMR26 into Q2 and finished the race in 14th, while teammate Lance Stroll secured 13th.

Honda’s chief engineer Shinharo Orihara told RacingNews365 that Alonso’s “feedback is always critical. He has 20 years of experience.

“If Fernando says, ‘We need this deployment before going into a corner,’ then we should respect his opinion.”

These are early steps for a team and power unit manufacturer which intends on challenging for F1 title glory in the not so distant future.

Honda wants to make Alonso a contender again.

Alonso won his Drivers’ titles in back-to-back seasons in 2005 and 2006, with Renault. Not since 2013 has Alonso been in realistic title contention.

“That is our target, definitely,” Orihara confirmed. “So we are working closely, and we know he is a great driver.

“He has a big passion, and he trusts Honda. So we want to bring what he wants, that is definitely our target.”

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Alonso told PlanetF1.com and others that his impending decision on his future is “not about the performance of this year,” but is “more about the rules.”

“Driving these cars in places like Spa or Silverstone  is not what I’m dreaming of for my future. So we’ll see.”

Alonso is of course referring to the polarising F1 2026 power unit regulations. Despite FIA steps to reduce the amount of superclipping and lift/coast, energy deployment did become a major talking point again at the Belgian and British GP rounds.

The power ratio will be tweaked more in favour of internal combustion engine power for F1 2027 and further for F1 2028.

In a boost for Honda’s hopes of hitting its “target” with Alonso, Adrian Newey, the Aston Martin team principal and design guru, has stated that he is “pretty confident” of keeping Alonso in the cockpit for next season.

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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Continue reading: Adrian Newey ‘pretty confident’ Fernando Alonso will stay with Aston Martin