– Is Honda experiencing its second comeback debacle in Formula 1 after 2015? Back then, the Japanese manufacturer returned to the premier class with McLaren, but initially trailed mercilessly behind. Now, eleven years later, a similar scenario is emerging with Aston Martin.
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Expert Bernie Collins clarifies in *Sky’s F1 Show*, however, that the current situation is not as bad as it was back then. “I was at that test at the end of 2014 when the Honda [engine] was put into the McLaren for the first time,” she recalls.
Today’s TV expert worked for McLaren at the time before leaving the racing team in 2015 for Force India – which is today’s Aston Martin team. The situation in 2026 is “definitely better” for Honda than it was during the first McLaren test, she says with a smile.
In fact, McLaren-Honda completed a total of only five laps over two full test days in Abu Dhabi at the end of 2014. During the winter testing at the beginning of 2015, the team managed 336 laps over a total of twelve days – significantly fewer than all other racing teams.
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Ahead of the 2026 season, the picture for Honda looks at least similar with 334 laps in the two test weeks in Bahrain. Collins also emphasizes that while things are going better than eleven years ago, the situation is “still not great” and there is still “a lot of work” ahead.
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What role Honda’s Formula 1 withdrawal plays
In her opinion, the fact that Honda is struggling so much is also related to the fact that the Japanese manufacturer had already announced its departure from Formula 1 at the end of 2020. Although Red Bull continued to run with Honda engines until the end of 2025 and even won races and titles with them.
However, the temporary exit behind the scenes was certainly a problem for Honda, even if nothing was noticed on the race track, Collins suspects.
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“I heard that Honda started clearing out the entire factory when they decided to withdraw [from Formula 1]. So when they decided to return, they had to start again with an empty factory,” says the expert. “That significantly slowed down the process,” she suspects.
Incidentally, Jenson Button finished the first race of the Honda comeback in 2015 in Australia two laps down. Teammate Kevin Magnussen, who replaced the injured Fernando Alonso, didn’t even make it to the starting grid in his McLaren.
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