Honda in Formula One

Did You Know?

• Honda entered Formula One just four years after producing their first road car, building their own engine and chassis for the RA271.
• The RA300 chassis was partly designed by Lola, leading to the nickname 'Hondola'.
• In May 2023, Honda confirmed it would supply hybrid power units to Aston Martin as a works team from 2026.

Second era (1983–1992)

Honda returned to Formula One as an engine supplier for Spirit and remained for a decade, partnering with Williams, Lotus, McLaren, and Tyrrell at various times. In 1983, Honda made its World Championship debut with Spirit's Stefan Johansson at the British Grand Prix, where he qualified 14th but retired after five laps with fuel problems. Earlier that year, the RA163E turbocharged V6 had impressed at the non-championship Race of Champions. By the season finale in South Africa, Honda had begun its association with Williams, and Keke Rosberg qualified sixth, only seven-tenths of a second off pole.

Honda did not always supply identical engine specifications to its teams in the same season; for instance, Williams received the latest RA167E while Lotus had to adapt the older RA166E to lower fuel and boost limits. In the final turbo era year, both Lotus and McLaren used the same RA168E. Later, McLaren had the latest RA121E V12 while Tyrrell received the previous RA100E V10s, tuned by Mugen with little factory support. Both Lotus in 1987–88 and Tyrrell in 1991 obtained Honda engines partly by agreeing to sign former Honda test driver Satoru Nakajima.

Third era (2000–2008)

Honda returned again, providing free engines and factory support to BAR, and also supplied free factory engines to Jordan Grand Prix for two seasons. After BAR achieved second place in the Constructors' Championship, Honda dropped the Jordan partnership to concentrate on BAR. In mid-November 2004, Honda planned to purchase 45% of BAR from British American Tobacco, but the deal was delayed to January 2005 due to issues with minor shareholders. In September 2005, Honda bought the remaining 55% to become sole owner, and the team raced as Honda Racing F1 Team from 2006.

The first season as a team since 1968 began well: Jenson Button finished fourth in Bahrain, scored a podium in Malaysia, and took pole in Australia. Results then became inconsistent, largely due to reliability problems and pit-stop issues. Geoff Willis was moved to a factory-based role focusing on aerodynamics, and after Shuhei Nakamoto was appointed Senior Technical Director over Willis, reports indicated Willis left the team.

Fourth era (2015–2021)

Development work began with former Ferrari head of engine department Gilles Simon as consultant. In May 2013, Honda announced it would return as an engine supplier in 2015 for the second season of the V6 turbo-hybrid regulations, reviving its partnership with McLaren. The power unit was designed around McLaren's 'size zero' chassis concept. The 2015 package proved underpowered and unreliable, with the team finishing ninth in the constructors' championship; a fifth place in Hungary was the best result. For 2016, Yusuke Hasegawa replaced Yasuhisa Arai as project leader. Honda made significant improvements, and after the Monaco Grand Prix the team had scored 24 points, nearly matching the previous season's total. The team finished sixth in the constructors' standings with 76 points, and in September 2016 Hasegawa revealed a separate team was already working on the next year's engine.

Other involvement

From 1993 to 1998, Honda's only Formula One presence was through Mugen Motorsports, which supplied engines to Footwork, Lotus, Ligier, Prost, and Jordan. Mugen-powered cars won four Grands Prix by the end of 1999. Although initially independently funded, the engines were serviced by Honda engineers, and by 1998 they were effectively works engines. In 1998, Honda seriously considered entering as a constructor, hiring Harvey Postlethwaite as technical director and engineer Kyle Petryshen from HRC.

A test car, the RA099, designed by Postlethwaite and built by Dallara, was tested in 1999 by Jos Verstappen. The team impressed in test sessions, beating some more experienced teams. During this period, Honda engineers also developed the Honda RC100/RC-F1 series as a side project, initially using V12 engines before switching to a Mugen-built V10. After withdrawing from Formula One at the end of 2021, Honda agreed to continue constructing and supplying power units to Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri from its Sakura facility, under the Honda RBPT name, with Honda Racing Corporation assuming responsibility. The agreement initially covered only 2022 but was later extended to the end of 2025.