Honda's 2026 Formula 1 engine is almost here, but before we slip into our Christmas food comas, the Japanese manufacturer has offered the first hint at what next year's power unit will sound like.
An audio clip, posted by Honda and shared by Aston Martin on social media, has received huge praise after the sound of the 1.6-litre turbo V6 was recorded on a test stand. You can cleanly hear the honky bark of Honda's power unit as it rips through its rev range. On the downshift - lightning quick - burbles can be heard as the revs blip.
Within hours, the video received over 200,000 likes on the Aston Martin Formula 1 team's Instagram account, with it also collecting over 2000 comments. "Okayyyy Honda we hear you LOUD & CLEAR," one commenter posted as another added: "Best sounding engine since the V8 era."
Unfortunately, Honda and Aston Martin failed to give any more information on the build, but the sound was good enough to keep us all going for the time being.
From 2026, F1 will see a substantial change in the regulations. One of these changes sees powertrains increasing their reliance on electrical power, and many fans have been worried that this would result in a softened soundtrack on track. Fortunately, Honda's tease has partly put this worry to bed, with it suggesting that these new powertrains will have plenty of character when the time comes while also being more sustainable.
With the 2025 season coming to an end, Honda will join Aston Martin, which will become a works team for the 2026 season. This comes after a long stint of success with Red Bull, with the pairing achieving four drivers' and two constructors' championships. Red Bull will instead bring Red Bull Powertrains, backed by Ford, into 2026.
As with everything in F1, Honda's time in the championship has been mixed overall, but its peaks have been incredible. It won its first grand prix in 1965 and saw success through the late 1980s and early 1990s with Williams and McLaren.
Since then, Honda struggled when it powered McLaren in 2015, but its partnership with Red Bull was a prosperous one, with it powering all of Max Verstappen's championship wins.
With Aston Martin now adopting what has been a very successful manufacturer, supporters of the team will be more than happy with what they're now seeing - and hearing.
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