Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has shed more light on the recently announced Aston Martin and Honda partnership during a media session on Thursday in Monaco.
Photo credit: Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team
The Silverstone-based outfit is currently one of Mercedes’ customer teams, but with the Honda partnership on the horizon, Aston Martin is preparing to transition into a works team for 2026. This includes having to establish facilities to design and build various elements on site.
“We don’t have a gearbox at the moment. It’s a challenge, we are aware of that,” Krack admitted.
“But, you will also probably know, that we are moving into the new building over this weekend. And we have all the provisions there to build our own gearboxes. We are aware that it’s a challenge, but over the next month we will set ourselves up to be able to do that, and then we should be ready by 2026.”
Krack also spoke about the advantages of being a works team and being able to fully integrate the chassis with the power unit: “I think one of the main things that you have, if you look at the 2026 PU regulations, and the chassis regulations that will be derived from them. There have been some workshops and working groups already since February last year…
“It shows that you have to be fully integrated—or, more and more integrated with your PU to design the right chassis for these regulations.”
“This is something that—if you have a works team, a works agreement—you are just more open and have much more information early on in regards to energy management, which aero configuration you have to run, to set correct targets, and this is just a big asset or big advantage for these new kinds of regulations.”
Asked if Aston Martin was planning to have Honda personnel on site in Silverstone as part of the deal, Krack admitted that talks are still in progress, but that he would be open to the idea:
“They’re having initial discussions around this topic…
“We have the space on campus. So we have to see what the future brings—we have no details of this discussion, this is being evaluated. But we would welcome people from outside because it would promote the collaboration.”
He added that they’re not ruling out the possibility of having a dedicated Honda facility on campus in the future.
