Honda announces it will leave F1

[iHansz]

Honda's current contract with Red Bull commits it to the end of the 2021 season. The top management in Japan thus had to make a decision on whether or not to extend its involvement, while also giving its two teams enough time to look for an alternative partner from 2022 onwards.

In essence, Honda has justified its decision to stop its F1 programme not on economic grounds but in order to focus its resources on developing alternative energy forms, and specifically a move to carbon neutrality by 2050.

Honda's F1 involvement has always been part of its overall R&D strategy and, after its withdrawal, resources currently committed to racing will be deployed elsewhere. In addition, engineers who worked on the F1 project can make use of the experience they gained at the cutting edge of motorsport.

Honda said: "Honda needs to funnel its corporate resources in research and development into the areas of future power unit and energy technologies, including fuel cell vehicle (FCV) and battery EV (BEV) technologies, which will be the core of carbon-free technologies."

Very interesting cause last year the current CEO saw this about BEV's: "Are there really customers who truly want them? I'm not so sure because there are lots of issues regarding infrastructure and hardware. I do not believe there will be a dramatic increase in demand for battery vehicles, and I believe this situation is true globally. There are different regulations in different countries, and we have to abide by them. So it's a must to continue R&D. But I don't believe it will become mainstream anytime soon."

Why this turnaround?

[Larbor]

The turn around was always in the cards, but Japanese culture doesn’t look kindly on apologising. Instead you dance around the issue, and everyone is happy.

Honda was never going to admit directly that they missed the EV boat.

[ChesterUK]

They've got to sacrifice something and that ain't Moto GP!

[keithr]

They've got to sacrifice something and that ain't Moto GP!

Good, as MotoGP is way more entertaining than F1.