FORMULA 1 – Honda announces it will withdraw after 2021 season.
Honda will leave Formula 1 at the end of the 2021 season. The Japanese giant dropped its latest F1 bombshell in an announcement in Tokyo on Friday.
“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.”
Honda’s ENTERED AND LEFT F1 four times since ’64
Honda has dabbled in F1 perenneally sinc the 1960s, coming and going four times since. It first entered Formula 1 with its revolutionary transverse-mounted 1.5-litre V12 GP racer in 1964 season, winning the ‘65 Mexican Grand Prix After building a 3-litre V12 for the new rules and winning more races, it exited the sport in 1968 season due to difficulties selling road cars in the US and Honda driver Jo Schlesser’s terrible fatal accident when his magnesium-rich car crashed, exploded and burned uncontrollably.
Honda returned as a most successful F1 engine supplier in ’83. It won several races in 1984 and ’85 before taking every Constructors’ title between 1986 and ’91 with Williams and McLaren. And the Drivers’ Championship every year with Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prostfrom ’87 to 1991. Honda withdrew at the end of 1992 after having achieved ots F1 targets and suffering the Japanese asset price crisis.
It returned again as a year 2000 engine supplier to British American Racing, ending second in the ’04 Constructors’ Championship. BAR became the Honda team for 2006 when Jenson Button won the Hungarian Grand Prix. But it left F1 in December 2008 following the global financial crisis,
Honda then made its most recent, troubled F1 return with McLaren in 2015 and initially struggled to master current turbo hybrid engine technology. It then moved over to Toro Rosso before also powering Red Bull From last year, where. Honda engines have powered title contender Max Verstappen to several wins. Pierre Gasly also one the recent Monza Grand Prix in an Alpah Tauri (nee Toro Rosso) Honda.