This may have been the deciding factor in Honda's F1 exit
Red Bull Content Pool
General
- GPblog.com
Honda will withdraw from Formula 1 in 2022 and in a statement, the Japanese brand announced that they are turning their backs on the pinnacle of motorsport for reasons relating to sustainability and the environment. However, this may not be the main reason.
On Friday afternoon, the Italian Motorsport.com noted that Honda Motor Co., the parent company of Honda's motorsport division, was currently in a poor financial position. In August, it appeared that the Japanese were in the red as passenger car sales had fallen sharply, especially in the United States, India and Japan. The outbreak of the coronavirus played a major role there.
"Honda Motor Co. recorded a fiscal loss of USD 765 million, a drastic turnaround after the profits of USD 1.6 billion the previous year. These are alarming figures, as sales fell by 46%'.
Are Honda being completely honest?
It, therefore, sounds logical that Honda simply had to make savings. The Formula 1 programme is said to cost around USD 200 million a season and, because the contract only ran until 2021, Formula 1 was an easy victim.
In other racing classes, Honda will remain active for the time being. After all, the IndyCar is also a very polluting motorsport class and so it seems that the underlying reasons are simply cutbacks.