Honda set to Withdraw from Formula 1

Honda have announced this morning that they will be pulling out of Formula 1 at the end of the 2021 season. The Power unit manufacturer has been supplying Both Redbull and sister team Scuderia AlphaTauri which now poses the teams a dilemma. There are only 3 power unit suppliers on the Grid, Mercedes who supply 3 other teams, Ferrari who supply HAAS and Alfa Romeo and of course the Works team Renault.

Renault previously partnered Redbull and had a strong partnership which lasted 12 years but parted ways at the end of 2018 due to poor results on track. A 2 year agreement was struck with the team and Honda for the 2019 and 2020 season. 


Team Principal Christian Horner, said: “As a Team we understand how difficult it has been for Honda Motor Company to reach the decision to step back from Formula One at the end of the 2021 season. The shifting focus within the automotive industry has led to Honda’s decision to re-deploy their resources and we understand and respect the reasoning behind this. Their decision presents obvious challenges for us as a Team but we have been here before and with our strength in depth we are well prepared and equipped to respond effectively, as we have proven in the past.
 
“Whilst we are disappointed not to continue our partnership with Honda, we are enormously proud of our joint success, delivering five wins and 15 podiums for both Red Bull owned teams and we thank everyone at Honda for their extraordinary efforts and commitment.
 
“Our joint focus for the remainder of the 2020 and 2021 seasons are unchanged, to fight for victories and challenge for the championship. As a signatory to Formula One’s latest Concorde Agreement, Red Bull Racing remains committed to the sport in the long term and we look forward to embarking on a new era of innovation, development and success. As a group, we will now take the time afforded to us to further evaluate and find the most competitive power unit solution for 2022 and beyond.”

Scuderia AlphaTauri 

“Scuderia AlphaTauri and Honda have built up a very good and professional relationship since we started to cooperate in 2018”, said Team Principal, Franz Tost. “We enjoyed great success together in the last few years, winning a race and finishing on the podium twice, with one second and one third place. It’s unfortunate that Honda has decided to stop their commitment in Formula One, because their Power Unit’s performance has been improving constantly and dramatically to become one of the best engines on the grid in a short period of time, since they returned to the sport. I’m convinced that together we will continue to achieve strong results in the remaining races this season and next year.”

“We certainly respect the reason behind Honda’s decision to focus on environmental initiatives and to strive for the realization of carbon neutrality, everybody at Scuderia AlphaTauri wish them well in reaching all their goals and to have a successful future ahead.  We sincerely want to thank Honda for the fruitful cooperation, we really enjoyed every day we’ve been working together. It won’t be easy to find an engine partner like Honda but, of course, we will start looking at all possibilities to find the best Power Unit solution from 2022 onwards.”