Photo: Honda
Honda will withdraw from Formula 1 after the upcoming 2021 season, but it doesn’t intend to go out with a whisper. Technical director Toyoharu Tanabe says that Honda, which provides engines for both the Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri teams, has set for itself a clear target: more race wins and a championship victory.
“As previously announced, at the end of next season, Honda will pull out of Formula 1. But our goal remains the same: to win the World Championship. Along with our partner teams we will now be working very hard during what will be a very short off-season in the search for more performance, so that we can come back stronger,” Tanabe said.
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In 2020, Honda recorded three wins and 14 podium finishes, up from three wins and 11 podiums in 2019. Red Bull Racing finished as the clear second-best team, and its driver Max Verstappen would likely have finished second ahead of Valtteri Bottas if not for a streak of bad luck; nonetheless, clinching either the driver’s or manufacturer’s championship in 2021 will be a major challenge.
Tanabe says that Honda is hard at work on developing its new engine, which has been increasingly reliable over the years. In 2020, Honda used only three power units per driver, the maximum amount allowed without incurring penalties. It was aided by the reduced amount of races, but it was still a massive improvement over previous years.
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“Of course, we are developing our new power unit for 2021, not only for performance but also reliability and then we know our position is still behind the Mercedes, and then the other competitors don’t sleep during the off-season,” Tanabe said. “So we have a very short off-season this year, but everyone involved in Formula 1 makes maximum effort to win races, also the championship, so it’s not… easy to tell you we will win.”
There are some interesting driver changes that could help both the Red Bull Racing team and AlphaTauri rack in more points than in 2020. The former hired Sergio Pérez, now a proven race winner, while the latter signed rising star Yuki Tsunoda, who finished third in an impressive rookie Formula 2 season.
Even after Honda pulls out of F1, there will still be the chance that its engine wins a championship. Red Bull is currently working on a solution that would enable it to continue using the Japanese manufacturer’s power unit. Still, that is probably not be the way Honda would wish its engine to win a title.
Kurt Verlin was born in France and lives in the United States. Throughout his life he was always told French was the language of romance, but it was English he fell in love with. He likes cats, music, cars, 30 Rock, Formula 1, and pretending to be a race car driver in simulators; but most of all, he just likes to write about it all. See more articles by Kurt.