Overview
- Honda announced on Monday that Yoichiro Fukao will replace Tetsushi Kakuda as Large Project Leader effective October 1 to lead its F1 power‑unit programme.
- Honda described the move as a planned transition meant to transfer technical expertise to a new generation of engineers and accelerate recovery of the project.
- The 2026 RA626H unit suffered severe vibration, driveability and reliability problems early in the season and a Spec‑2 upgrade reduced vibration while delivering only about 0.05–0.1 seconds per lap of performance gain.
- Honda received extra development assistance beyond the original ADUO concessions in May and has held further talks with the FIA, Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll and Fernando Alonso about additional measures.
- There will be no further major power‑unit updates this year as Honda shifts focus to a larger 2027 rebuild, a stance that leaves Aston Martin near the bottom of the standings and raises pressure on the team and its drivers.