'Honda secretly regret their departure from Formula 1'

Red Bull engine

Back in 2020, Honda announced that 2021 would be the last year for the Japanese manufacturer in F1. That was the sign for Red Bull to take matters into their own hands. They bought the rights to continue using Honda's engine under their own name and built a new factory in Milton Keynes to manufacture their own engines in the future.

Red Bull however are keeping all options open. The Volkswagen Group is looking with Porsche and Audi to get into F1 and Red Bull would be open to a partnership with Porsche. The competition would be less happy about this, as Red Bull and Porsche would then be able to test separately in the coming years, giving them more combined testing hours than Ferrari or Mercedes prior to the introduction of the new engine in 2026.

Return of Honda

Honda, however, will remain linked to Red Bull for the time being. The Japanese have not sold their full rights, which means they still have to supply the engine to Red Bull. Many Honda engine project staff members are now working for Red Bull to speed up this process. Honda however also wants to keep the door ajar.

According to AMuS experts get the impression that Honda secretly regrets its departure from Formula 1 and wants to keep the lines short with Red Bull this way. The new engine rules for 2026 are not yet officially known, but they too could be interesting for Honda. With a budget cap for engine manufacturers Honda does not have to throw money around unnecessarily anymore.