Honda "interested" in exploring Formula E opportunities
F1 News
Honda are "interested" in joining Formula E as they believe it is a market that would benefit their brand and lead to more sales of their electric cars which are due to be available in Europe in a few months. Formula E is also looking to boost their interest in Japan and would like to hold a race there. The inclusion of Honda in the series would, therefore, be of interest to both parties.
"Formula E is done inside of cities, as a street race, and it's kind of like advertising using racing, rather than pure [traditional] racing," said Honda's Masashi Yamamoto to Motorsport.com.
"As Honda, we have conversations with Alejandro Agag (Chairman of Formula E). We are always keeping eyes on the category. We have announced our electric car already, which is going to be on sale in Europe soon.
"There are many Honda customers who are interested in our electric cars so it's good to appeal to them.
"And there must be technology we can take away from the races to the road cars. That's the reason we have an interest."
However, Formula 1 will remain the priority for the company and as they start to build more success they will not want to take their eye off their goal of getting to the top of F1.
"We want to focus on F1," Yamamoto said. "If Honda races, we have to win. We have to reach a certain level to be satisfied in this category. That's the first priority for us at the moment."
It is great to see Honda have such strength and confidence but they will need to concentrate fully on Formula 1 if they are to continue winning races.