Honda

Its progress this year, that has put it in a super close title fight with Mercedes, has been helped significantly by the work of engine partner Honda, which itself is leading the F1 title standings for the first time since 1991.<br>What is most impressive about Honda's form this year is how quickly its fortunes in F1 have turned around. From the incredibly tough days with McLaren, its engine is ...

read on

The Milton Keynes-based team has had an encouraging start to the 2021 campaign, with Max Verstappen taking pole position for the season opener in Bahrain and winning last time out at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.<br>That success has been helped by big progress from Honda, which will be pulling out of F1 at the end of this season.<br>Red Bull's takeover of the Honda project for 2022, allied to an ...

read on

Max Verstappen’s triumph at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix was helped by a sensational getaway from third on the grid that helped him leapfrog pole man Lewis Hamilton.<br>The start in tricky damp conditions marked a breakthrough for Red Bull-Honda, with previous starts when the rain has hit having been a struggle because of problems getting the engine mapping and clutch settings ...

read on

Honda's 2021 engine, the so-called RA621H, is viewed by many in the F1 paddock as the strongest PU in the current field, with Pierre Gasly’s qualifying form for AlphaTauri backing up the pace of Red Bull Racing.<br>A major package of changes that was in the system had originally been postponed to 2022, but following the Japanese company’s decision to end its official involvement in the sport ...

read on

The Japanese car manufacturer has entered its final season in F1 with an all-new power unit concept that partner Red Bull will take on to run itself in the future.<br>For the 2021 design, Honda has gone aggressive with its packaging and introduced some key changes to push the size boundaries that it famously tried before with its original ‘size zero’ engine with ...

read on

The Japanese manufacturer introduced a new engine for this year ahead of its departure from the sport at the end of the season, before Red Bull takes over its development from 2022.<br>The new engine is smaller and more powerful, and both Red Bull and AlphaTauri have taken a step forward judging by their performance in pre-season testing and in the first race in Bahrain.<br>"I must say Honda did a ...

read on

While Red Bull-Honda had a clear pace advantage over Mercedes in qualifying at Sakhir last weekend, in the race there was little to separate the two teams.<br>That shift in form opened the door for Mercedes to use an aggressive strategy to help Lewis Hamilton get track position over Max Verstappen, with the Briton holding on for the win. Reflecting on the weekend, Honda says that one aspect that ...

read on

The Japanese car manufacturer is heading into its final F1 season hoping for a good sign-off with partners Red Bull and AlphaTauri.<br>Having fast-tracked a power unit that had originally been down for introduction in 2022, Honda says that early indications from its dyno testing in Japan are encouraging.<br>Honda's F1 technical director Toyoharu Tanabe says the company feels 'well prepared' after ...

read on

Honda announced at the beginning of October that it would be ending its involvement in F1 at the end of the 2021 season, but was open to allowing Red Bull to continue to run its power units beyond this date.<br>It prompted Red Bull to seek a freeze on engine development that would allow it to continue to use Honda power units without needing to fund their costly development, and avoid having to ...

read on

With Honda officially pulling out of F1 after the end of next year, Red Bull is currently weighing up its future engine situation.<br>It has been clear that its preferred route is to take over the IP of the Honda project, so it can keep running its current power unit.<br>However, the only way Red Bull can realistically push on with the Honda platform is if it does not have to keep developing the ...

read on

Red Bull is currently weighing up it power unit plans from 2022, with current supplier Honda having announced recently that it will be pulling out of F1 at the end of next year.<br>While Red Bull has customer engine options, including a renewal of a partnership with Renault, it has made clear that its preferred option would be to takeover the current Honda engine project and run the power units ...

read on

Honda will end its official support of F1 at the end of 2021, although its technology may yet be retained by Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri.<br>In announcing its departure last month Honda insisted that the decision was driven by a corporate push towards sustainability and carbon neutrality, and a necessity to switch R&D resources from the F1 project.<br>However Carey insists that it was ...

read on

While Mercedes has been dominant in 2020, wrapping up a seventh consecutive title double, the German car manufacturer is already favourite for 2021 because the car rules are being pretty much carried over.<br>But the growing pace of Red Bull, shown by Max Verstappen now regularly challenging Mercedes for wins, has highlighted that the Milton Keynes-based team is starting to unlock some ...

read on

With Honda having announced that it is to quit F1 at the end of 2021, Red Bull is having to weigh up what it does for a power supply longer term.<br>While Renault could be forced to supply Red Bull with engines as part of F1’s sporting regulations, the team's motorsport advisor Helmut Marko says that the Milton Keynes outfit is actually eyeing another option.<br>It ...

read on

The Japanese manufacturer recently announced that it is stopping its F1 programme at the end of 2021, leaving the Red Bull and AlphaTauri teams looking for a solution for the following season.<br>Honda says that it wants to switch its engineering resources to a push for sustainability, with a goal of carbon neutrality by 2050, in what some have viewed as a slap in the face for F1's own similar ...

read on

With just three power unit manufacturers set to be on the grid in 2022 and no sign of any newcomers joining the fray, the options appear limited.<br>Given previous uncertainty from both Mercedes and Ferrari to supply Red Bull back in 2015, Honda’s exit meant Renault - the very team Red Bull was so eager to split with five years ago - looked like the most obvious option for the future.<br>But ...

read on

Honda announced earlier this month that it would pull out of F1 at the end of next season, leaving the two Red Bull-owned teams without an engine supplier for the sport’s new era in 2022.<br>The Japanese manufacturer’s decision has also left a question mark over its young driver development programme, which is run in partnership with Red Bull and has featured the likes of Tsunoda, Nobuharu ...

read on

The Dutchman has a contract with Red Bull that runs until the end of 2023, and Honda’s decision to leave F1 has fuelled speculation that it could prompt Verstappen to look elsewhere.<br>But while there is uncertainty about what Red Bull’s engine plans are from the start of 2022, Verstappen said it would be foolish to start worrying about what he should do so far in advance.<br>“I just focus ...

read on

The Dutchman’s Red Bull team has been left hunting a new engine supplier from 2022 after current power unit partner Honda announced at the end of last week that it was to quit F1 at the end of next year.<br>But Verstappen said that even before Honda formally notified him and Red Bull of its plans, he sensed that they were not going to stick around.<br>“I mean you could feel it coming,” he ...

read on

The current rules are due to remain in place until the end of 2025, and discussions are already underway about what direction F1 technology should take after that.<br>F1 managing director Ross Brawn has publicly acknowledged that no new manufacturer is likely to join the sport until new regulations come into force.<br>Abiteboul suggests that Honda’s withdrawal indicates that the current rules ...

read on

The news leaves Red Bull searching for a new power unit partner for its two teams, Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri.<br>Who uses Honda engines?<br>After pulling out of the sport at the end of 2008 Honda returned to F1 in 2015, the second year of the current hybrid V6 regulations.<br>The manufacturer initially had an exclusive deal with McLaren, but the relationship got off to a bad start, and never ...

read on

The Japanese manufacturer announced on Friday morning that it had elected not to continue beyond the end of next year, leaving partner teams Red Bull and AlphaTauri in search of a new engine supplier.<br>With the company pushing to become fully carbon neutral from 2050, Honda's senior executives believe the resources used in F1 should be put to better use to drive its environmentally-friendly ...

read on

The Japanese manufacturer announced on Friday that it will conclude its F1 programme at the end of next season in order to focus its resources elsewhere.<br>Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri have both been left looking for a new power unit partner for 2022 and beyond.<br>The news of the loss of Honda comes only a few weeks after both teams signed the new Concorde Agreement, committing them to the ...

read on

The Japanese car manufacturer dropped the bombshell during a press conference at its Tokyo headquarters on Friday morning.<br>Citing the huge costs involved in pushing its road car business towards a carbon neutral future, Honda said it had elected not to extend it stay in F1 beyond the end of next year.<br>Honda returned to F1 with McLaren in 2015 but endured several years of frustration as it ...

read on

The nature of the Sochi circuit, with very few heavy braking zones and long flat-out sections, make it hard for the turbo hybrid engines to recover enough power throughout each lap to run at maximum boost for the entire length of the circuit.<br>That results in what is known as 'clipping' - when the power unit runs out of the extra 160hp battery boost towards the end of the straights.<br>With Red ...

read on