Honda has announced that it will end its work as a supplier of Formula One engines at the end of 2021. Instead, the Japanese car manufacturer will concentrate on research and development in fuel cells, and battery-electric cars and vehicles.
Honda has supplied engines to Formula One racing since the 1960s, although it did have a hiatus from the sport between 2008 and 2015. They returned to work with McLaren, and are currently involved with the teams from Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri. Honda has delivered engines that saw three Formula One race wins last season and two wins so far in 2020.
Honda has decided to change direction as they realised that the automobile industry is undergoing a great period of transformation. As a result, they have decided to strive for the realisation of carbon neutrality by 2050. They will concentrate on their efforts on the development of battery cells, and designing electric cars and vehicles.
As a part of this move, Honda has created its new Research Excellence, Power Unit and Energy Centre. They will allocate their energy management and fuel technologies, along with knowledge amassed through the Formula One activities, to this area of the power unit and energy technologies.
Honda will continue working with the Red Bull and AlphaTauri Formula One teams until the end of 2021 before departing from the sport.
Takahiro Hachigo, President, Representative Director and CEO of Honda, said:
“On behalf of Honda I would like to express our gratitude again to both Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri for enabling us to fulfill our ambitions of winning F1 races.
Now, shifting focus onto the business environment facing Honda, we see the automobile industry is undergoing a once-in-one-hundred-years period of great transformation. It has been a while since we started communicating Honda’s intention to focus on the creation of new mobility products and new value for the future.
We view our environmental initiatives as one of the top priorities of Honda as a mobility manufacturer. In 2010, Honda set a vision to realise the joy and freedom of mobility and a sustainable society where people can enjoy life. Since then we have been making progress in our initiatives to strive for the elimination of our environmental footprint.”
