Chinanews client, Beijing, October 2nd, Beijing time, according to official news of the F1 World Championship, Honda officially announced that it will withdraw from F1 after the end of the 2021 season.
Announcement screenshot
According to the announcement, Honda returned to F1 with McLaren in 2015. After three difficult and failed seasons, the two sides parted ways.
Honda chose to cooperate with the Little Red Bull Racing Team in 2018 and officially joined the Red Bull Racing Team in the second year.
The cooperation between Honda and the Red Bull system has been quite successful, with five F1 Grand Prix victories so far in the two and a half years of cooperation.
However, Honda decided not to continue. They will officially bid farewell to F1 at the end of 2021 after ending their contracts with Red Bull and Toro Rosso.
Honda said that they made this decision because the auto industry is undergoing a "great transformation once in a century", and they chose to leave in order to "be able to achieve their goal of winning."
Honda said in its exit statement, "Honda will continue to cooperate with Red Bull and Toro Rosso, do its best to participate in the competition, and strive to achieve more victories before the end of the 2021 season."
Honda's withdrawal means that F1 will have three power unit suppliers left: Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault.
According to current regulations, unless the two teams can persuade Mercedes or Ferrari to provide power unit supply, Renault will have to provide engines to Red Bull and Toro Rosso, because Renault currently has the least number of customers.
After signing the "Concorde Agreement", Red Bull and Toro Rosso will remain in F1 at least until the end of 2025.
Red Bull Team Leader Horner expressed his understanding and respect for Honda’s decision to withdraw, “We look forward to entering a new era of innovation, development and success. Now, we will take the time to evaluate and find the solution for the most competitive power unit in 2022 and beyond. Plan." (End)