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Honda’s exit from Formula 1 is not a turning point as it might seem at first glance.
Honda is leaving Formula 1 at the end of the year – a development announced this week 12 months ago – but the one Brand won’t go fully into the F1 sunset when 2021 transitions into 2022.
It was already known that Red Bull and Honda had reached an agreement that the energy drink brand would keep their power packs from 2022 until the end continue to use the regulatory cycle in 2025. Red Bull expanded its motorsport campus in Milton Keynes, UK, to include Red Bull Powertrains to operate and maintain the power units for Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri.
However, Honda will continue to have an off-site stake for the 2022 season, with an agreement reached between the Japanese company and Red Bull. It was expected, but details have now been officially announced.
Red Bull Powertrains will have the right to use Honda’s intellectual property related to the engine, while Honda will assist Red Bull Powertrains in building the 2022 engines will. Honda will also offer track and racing support from Japan during the 2022 season, although this is now being grouped into an operational change under the umbrella of HRC.
HRC has successfully run Honda’s motorcycle business, and the change will allow Honda to better integrate the technology it derives from its motorcycle and motorsport activities, according to Honda. Red Bull Powertrains will then assume full responsibility in 2023. The staff currently employed by Honda Racing Development in its own factory in Milton Keynes will be transferred to Red Bull Powertrains.
It is another sign of the strong relationship between Red Bull and Honda; the parties did not align themselves until 2019 (2018 in the case of the Red Bull sister team AlphaTauri), but are firmly in the fight for this year’s championship. Red Bull even adorned its RB16B for the Turkish Grand Prix this weekend in the white and red Honda colors, with « arigato » – the Japanese for « thank you » – on the paintwork. The paint job change took place this weekend as Formula 1 was originally intended to be driven on Honda’s home track, Suzuka, until entry restrictions and protocols in Japan forced the event to be canceled.
The collaboration between Red Bull and Honda will also go beyond the aggregates. Since 2019, they have entered into a joint partnership in their respective young driver programs, which will last until 2022. This alliance enabled Japanese-born Yuki Tsunoda to develop before his eventual graduation into Formula 1 at AlphaTauri for 2021. Tsunoda’s place at AlphaTauri is already secured for 2022.
In a statement, Honda outlined that « There will also be additional collaborations between the two companies that deal with various forms of motorsport and even other sports and marketing activities.
» The collaboration between Red Bull with Honda was hugely successful and while our relationship in Formula 1 is changing, none of us want this to be the end of the story, « said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.
» We are very pleased that our ambitious and exciting Red Bull Powertrains Project 2022 will receive strong technical and operational support from Honda and this will help Red Bull’s transition to the status of chassis and power unit manufacturer run smoothly.
“Equally exciting is the news that our partnership with Honda will expand to include a wide variety of motorsport activities, from driver development to other racing disciplines to the wider world of sports.
« This section of Honda’s Formula 1 journey is drawing to a close, but together we are embarking on a new and fascinating journey. »
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