Honda will have an impact on Aston Martin's driver lineup.

      "The number of available seats will be decreased."

      Honda will have input on the driver lineup at Aston Martin moving forward. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll are both contracted through 2026, during which they will compete in the first Aston Martin designed by Adrian Newey. However, there are rumors that Honda wants Yuki Tsunoda in a green car as soon as possible. Early speculation about the future of 43-year-old Alonso and the longevity of Stroll—who had a notably slow performance at Suzuka—has begun to circulate, despite Stroll's father, Lawrence, owning the team.

      Dutch GP director Jan Lammers expressed that he could see Alonso leaving F1 at the end of the season. "I have long thought that Max (Verstappen) and Aston Martin could collaborate," he told Ziggo Sport. "If Lawrence Stroll believes he can lure Max away from Red Bull, I think he will take the necessary steps. That's just his approach."

      Currently, Honda has a role in driver selection at Red Bull, which has four seats to fill in both the main team and Racing Bulls. However, with Stroll, 26, seemingly secure due to his father, only one Aston Martin seat remains for Honda to influence starting next year. "The number of seats will be reduced," acknowledged Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe in an interview with Japan Times. "Clearly, the team has the final decision on which drivers join, but the situation will mirror that at Red Bull, where we will have our input."

      Watanabe also emphasized that at an upcoming meeting in Bahrain, he will strongly support moving forward with the 2026 engine regulations change amidst discussions about a potential return to V10 engines. "Our position hasn’t changed," he stated. "Electric technology is crucial for us, which is why we continue to participate."

      The Japanese executive is confident that Honda will be competitive in 2026, despite the initial hybrid power unit provided to McLaren in 2015 being a complete failure. "We had halted our F1 project, so we weren’t ready in 2015," Watanabe explained. "We were starting from scratch. Now we’re not starting from zero, which leads to a smoother development process."