How Honda and Red Bull Will Continue Collaborating After 2021
Almost exactly one year past, Honda announced it would leave Formula 1 at the end of the 2021 racing season. The manufacturer currently supplies engines for Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri, both of which are part of the Red Bull organization.
However, Honda’s departure from the sport won’t be a total one. It was already known that Red Bull would continue to run Honda power units in its F1 cars through 2025. To that end, the energy drinks company even expanded its motorsport campus in Milton Keynes to create Red Bull Powertrains.
Did You Know? 4 of the top 10 American-made cars are Hondas
It was suspected that Honda would aid Red Bull in this endeavor, but until this month, the extent to which the Japanese brand would continue to stay involved was still a question mark. Now, Honda has outlined all the ways in which the two companies will be collaborating beyond 2021.
In addition to granting Red Bull Powertrains the intellectual property for its power unit, Honda will also assist the new company in building and servicing the engine through the 2022 F1 season. However, from 2023, RPB will have to go it alone.
Honda Racing Development UK employees, already based in Milton Keynes, will also become Red Bull Powertrain employees, giving the F1 team the valuable experience it needs now that it is making a foray into engine manufacturing.
Honda will continue to work with Red Bull in other motorsports, including on their respective young driver programs to help promote the development of Japanese drivers, which are currently underrepresented in global racing.
As part of the announcement, Honda declared all of its four-wheeled motorsport activities would be gathered under Honda Racing Corporation, which already handles the company’s motorcycle racing endeavors. Thus all of Honda’s racing activities will finally fall under a single umbrella.
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.