Honda announced they were walking away, but they never did. Since these things take time, and of course the Honda people who were working with Red Bull directly did not actually want to end that project. So yes, like you say they were intending to walk away but never did. They are still the ones making the engines for Red Bull & Racing Bulls until the end of the year. Even if the sticker says “Red Bull Powertrains”.
And since that is the case, any idea that Yukis seat is tied to Honda would only come into play now and not while they were still working together
Honda announced they were walking away, but they never did. Since these things take time, and of course the Honda people who were working with Red Bull directly did not actually want to end that project. So yes, like you say they were intending to walk away but never did. They are still the ones making the engines for Red Bull & Racing Bulls until the end of the year. Even if the sticker says “Red Bull Powertrains”.
And since that is the case, any idea that Yukis seat is tied to Honda would only come into play now and not while they were still working together
Well, engine development was shut down for quite some time. The Sakura crew was reassigned to different areas within Honda, so these people were still available but the UK crew was transferred to Red Bull. A new UK base was only reopened in 2024: https://honda.racing/post/honda-racing-corporation-hrc-establishes-a-new-formula-one-base-in-the-uk
The majority of the 2026 Honda engine for Aston Martin is developed by Honda/HRC in Japan and HRC USA (formerly HPD, Honda Performance Development): https://hondanews.com/en-US/honda-racing/releases/release-63b0bd89adfbb0b817837ec2c5000f6e-honda-racing-corporation-usa-launches (no idea about the workload share since HRC UK has reopened)
I see, thanks for the additional detail