Honda Racing Corporation, which has a technical partnership with Red Bull, has registered with the FIA to enter the 2026 Formula 1 season as a power unit supplier.
Max Verstappen won the drivers championship in a Honda-powered Red Bull last year. Honda officially withdrew from F1 at the end of 2021 and HRC took over the preparation of their engines for the team.Red Bull enjoyed an even more successful season in 2022, claiming the constructors’ title for the first time in nine years while Verstappen was crowned champion again. He clinched the title in the Japanese Grand Prix at Honda’s Suzuka circuit, after the manufacturer increased its branding on the teams’ cars.
Honda, which first entered F1 in 1965 and has come and gone many times since then, announced its latest departure from the sport in October 2020. The manufacturer said at the time it intended to prioritise the development of future power unit and energy technologies in order to reach its goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050.
Since then F1 has confirmed its power unit regulations for the 2026 season. Under the forthcoming formula the total power generated by the power unit’s energy recovery system will increase to around 350kW.
A spokesperson for Honda told RaceFans Formula 1’s decision to increase the electrification of its power units brought it in line with Honda’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality, prompting their application.
HRC also provides engines to Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri.
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Gabriel (@gabf1)
12th December 2022, 19:38
Confirms my suspicions that Red Bull Powertrains was largely a cover to force engine freeze. Honda have saved a lot of development money in this period of time, and got to stay in F1 on the cheap, ready for 2026.
nickthegreek (@nickthegreek)
12th December 2022, 20:28
to be fair the other manufacturers saved a lot of money too
Mosin
12th December 2022, 23:16
or maybe not saved any thing and spent the mney it saved to already work on the 2026 engine. seems more likely and was a suspicion when they officially left
SteveP
13th December 2022, 18:52
All you need now is Horner to say what a surprise it is that Honda are coming back, and then you know it was planned.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
12th December 2022, 23:28
This announcement gives them plenty of time to leave F1 again before they’ve even returned.
Shimks (@shimks)
13th December 2022, 8:08
Good one, @bullfrog! :)
reg (@reg)
13th December 2022, 21:43
Maybe with this much time, they can skip the GP2 engine phase…