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Honda will provide what is likely to be the first look at a 2026 Formula 1 engine with an unusual launch event for its new power unit in January.
While car reveals are obviously a well-established and popular part of the build-up to a new F1 campaign, the engines have become a footnote in teams’ launch plans.
Next year heralds a major change to both car and engine regulations, though, and F1 is known to be keen to reinforce the message that the hybrid engines are impressive technological achievements that are becoming more sustainable with the switch to a near-50/50 split between electrical power and the internal combustion engine.
Honda is officially ‘returning’ to F1 in 2026 as Aston Martin’s works partner after spending the last four seasons in a reduced supplier role for Red Bull since its formal ‘withdrawal’ at the end of 2021.
It was tempted by the new engine rules and will compete against former partner Red Bull (running the first engine built by its new Powertrains company and technical partner Ford), newcomer Audi, and established manufacturers Mercedes and Ferrari.
Aston Martin’s 2026 F1 car will be launched in Saudi Arabia on February 9 but three weeks before that Honda will host a unique event in Tokyo on January 20.
The manufacturer says it will “reveal” its engine alongside sharing its aspirations and explaining the new regulations.
It should provide a rare up-close look at a modern F1 engine and the first proper images of one built to the new 2026 rules with the massively uprated energy recovery system but no MGU-H.
This comes just a few days after Honda became the first manufacturer to share the sound of its new 2026 engine.
Honda president and CEO Toshihiro Mibe, Aston Martin F1 team chairman Lawrence Stroll, and F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali will all speak at the Tokyo event, which will be livestreamed on YouTube in English and Japanese.
