It must feel a bit like Groundhog Day for Honda in its new venture with Aston Martin, as the Japanese manufacturer’s poor performance and lack of reliability is strikingly similar to when they partnered with McLaren on their return to Formula 1 in 2015.
But it is their response to that misfortune – where they changed to red bull and emerged at the other end of the tunnel with one of the sport’s greatest engines that produced race wins and world championships with Max Verstappen – that gives them hope of being able to recover.