Legendary designer Newey said he was not aware of Honda's inexperience until a visit to Tokyo until November 2025, saying: "Out of that came the fact that many of the original workforce had not returned when they restarted."

Honda were supposed to exit F1 at the end of the 2021 season, but performed a U-turn in 2023 to return with Aston Martin, but such a late turnaround has supposedly now left the Japanese manufacturer short of F1 experience.

Speaking at Friday's press conference, Watanabe addressed Newey's surprise.

The Honda boss also highlighted their late start to 2026 development compared to other teams, but said the AMR26'S problems do not lay squarely with their job on the power unit.

When asked how Honda could go from winning multiple championships with Red Bull up to 2025 to the current situation at Aston Martin, Watanabe made sure to highlight the Silverstone-based team's role in the torrid start.

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