Honda has participated in F1 in four different eras. But in talking about success or failure, they can all be combined into a single limiting factor.
Honda’s F1 engine has won many F1 wins. However, Honda’s participation in F1 is by no means a success. The four eras span 57 years, but only one era has been continuously involved in F1 for 10 years, indicating that Honda has serious commitment issues.
Honda’s four eras were the first phase (1964-1968) when they first participated in Works, the second phase (1983-1992) when they won titles with Williams and McLaren as engine suppliers, and they participated as engine suppliers and partner teams. It will be the third phase (2000-2008), which acquired BAR and became a works team, and the fourth phase (2015-2021) of the V6 turbo hybrid era, which started with McLaren and ended with Red Bull.
The first term as a works team is 5 years, the second term as an engine supplier is 10 years, the third term as an engine supplier / works team is 9 years, and the fourth term as an engine supplier is 7 years. is.
No matter how we look at the four eras, Honda didn’t have a consistent idea of how best to describe themselves in F1 and didn’t have the confidence to continue. Is shown.
The two are almost certainly connected. And every time Honda’s board made the wrong decision about the future of F1, the people involved in F1 at Honda suffered.
Honda left F1 at the end of 2008, and 12 months later, the team that sold it to Ross Brawn and renamed it Brawn GP equipped with Mercedes F1 engine of the car manufactured by Honda, both I can’t forget that I won the championship.
Some people compare the withdrawal at that time to the latest withdrawal. After years of struggling in F1, Honda has finally withdrawn from F1 at the point of its performance.
Honda was able to win the championship at least this time before giving the best quality F1 engine to others. However, Honda has lost success in its own name again by handing over the F1 engines to Red Bull and signing a contract to assemble and maintain those engines as Kuroko for four seasons.
Not surprisingly, Honda is said to regret the decision. There is already speculation behind the scenes that Honda plans to return to F1 in F1’s next-generation F1 turbo hybrid rules in 2026. But it sounds like a very well-known situation.
He spends a lot of money on F1, has a little success, misses it, and comes back a few years later.
At least, if it returns in 2026, it may not be a disaster from scratch similar to the beginning of Honda’s V6 turbo project.
Honda has maintained close contact with F1 until at least the end of 2025, as it has signed a contract to support Red Bull throughout the next four seasons after officially withdrawing from F1.
This will be offset by mutually beneficial transactions under the terms of the partnership funded by Red Bull or promised by the two companies near the end of 2021. Therefore, behind the scenes of F1, if Honda does not incur specific costs, it would seem possible and practical for Honda’s Sakura facility to be linked to informal research projects on the 2026 regulation. ..
This could be useful for Honda’s carbon-neutral project, especially when F1’s battery technology and sustainable fuels are involved. Therefore, it is not a waste of resources. And if Honda’s board decides that an F1 return is necessary, it will be able to pursue new power units without starting from scratch.
In addition, if Red Bull does it alone with its early powertrain division, it may be willing to accept having a partner there.
There are rumors that Honda’s board is advised that the best way to do it is a full-fledged constructor if it comes back, but that may not be a formal proposal, and Honda actually You may not pursue it.
Honda has never been successful with a full works team. Its greatest success was culminated in the magnificent McLaren Honda partnership, which was introduced as an engine supplier in the 1980s and 1990s and brought eight titles and 44 wins between 1988 and 1992.
When he stopped returning as a constructor in support of the supply of BAR engines in 2000 and took over the team in 2006, Team Blackley had a large selection of Honda engineers, but Honda’s thoroughness. It wasn’t a team.
It is believed that Honda did not seriously consider that the return to F1 in the V6 turbo hybrid era should be a constructor.
The success of McLaren and the revival of Ayrton Senna’s era was incredibly powerful. However, Honda also knew that he had no knowledge of the chassis and was not well equipped. Honda’s Works F1 team needs a European headquarters and perhaps an existing team to partner with.
Traditionally, the Japan-Europe cooperation has proven to be less successful.
If you can trust to stick to F1 in the long run, the works team makes a lot of sense. Especially in the era of F1 cost caps. Manufacturer spending is finite, branding is entirely under its control, and a longer commitment means that the project is fully executed rather than cut from the bottom.
However, Honda followed the route of engine partners, accepting the commercial restrictions associated with limited branding and the competitive restrictions such as the lack of control of the team itself.
Honda does not consider Phase 4 to be a failure as it eventually succeeded in two Red Bull teams (Max Verstappen’s driver’s title, 17 wins, 13 pole positions and 48 podiums). ..
The three years of Red Bull Racing and Verstappen have already guaranteed a better legacy than McLaren in the 2010s, which threatened to pollute the brand.
However, Honda is fifth on the list of the best engine makers in history with 89 wins, ahead of existing F1 engine suppliers Ferrari (239), Mercedes (212) and Renault (169).
And just as Max Verstappen’s relationship with Honda is limited by lack of time, Red Bull Honda also approaches one of F1’s great combinations, although the project is lovingly remembered by both organizations. There is no.
There is a big gap between the peaks of each of the two brands, as well as the most successful ones like Williams Renault (9 titles, 63 wins) and McLaren Mercedes (4 titles, 79 wins). Red Bull has won eight titles and 55 wins at Renault. McLaren’s first year will be Honda’s benchmark, but even Williams (three titles, 23 wins) has been more successful than Red Bull.
Even if Red Bull continues to win with Honda’s F1 engines for the next few years, it will never be officially recognized.
This is a project that has cut its heyday and is ultimately limited by Honda’s own uncertainty. It put Honda in the past and present at risk. And, without a solid commitment, perhaps the same could happen in the future.
Category: Category: F1 / Honda F1