AMR moving to Honda for 2026

[airshifter]

Currently Merc powered, AMR is managing to beat the Merc "works" team thus far this season. A huge slap to the Merc team, and no doubt noticed by all on the grid.

With the reg changes coming in 2026, this partnership seems like a smart time to make a move. We all know the deck shuffles over time, and Honda seems to have done a really good job all the way around with the current regs. With RB moving to Ford, it seems rather risky, since they will be coming in with both the new regs in place as well as a return to F1 after years away. Being Honda has powered the cars that took titles and brought the fight to Merc, it seems somewhat odd that they have confidence in changing.

I think AMR are the ones making a smart move here.

[Nitrodaze]

It just surprises me that Redbull could not keep this highly productive relationship going. There must have been some friction for Honda to want to move supply to another team, otherwise, why would they abandon a very successful relationship? Whatever the case, it is another brilliant move by Aston Martin and Lawrence Stroll.

What we are seeing is not much dissimilar to what happened with Renault and Redbull. Renault progressively began to lose customers as their engine got noticeably slower. The Mercedes engine is looking like the third fastest engine behind the Honda and the Ferrari. But this perception may be due to aero or chassis deficiencies of the W14. Whatever the case, it is clear that they would not win championships as a customer of the Mercedes engine. Mclaren realized this point a while ago but could not maintain a good relationship with Honda which is why they are where they are today.