Is Honda leaving too early again? This is what the manufacturer achieved until now
Red Bull Content Pool
General
- GPblog.com
Engine manufacturer Honda has unexpectedly decided to leave Formula 1 again after 2021. But is the company leaving too soon again? This is all Honda has achieved since returning in 2015.
The last time Honda left the premier class of motorsport was 2008, due to the financial situation caused by the global crisis. It turned out to be just a year too soon because for 2009 Ross Brawn took over the team and renamed it Brawn GP. With Jenson Button behind the wheel, Brawn managed to win the drivers' and constructors' championship before being acquired by Mercedes.
In 2015, Honda returned to Formula 1 in a partnership with McLaren. It was actually a year earlier than the engine manufacturer would have liked and the results showed it. The hybrid engine was a lot harder to develop than a classic V8 engine and McLaren Honda, therefore, didn't get further than P9 with just 27 points. Also in the other years with McLaren, there was not exactly a rising trend, which caused a lot of friction between both parties.
Success with Red Bull
As a result, the partnership came to an end after the 2017 season, after which Red Bull decided to join forces with Honda, by supplying sister team Toro Rosso with the Japanese engines. That 'test' pleased Red Bull Racing so much that in 2018 it decided to drop Renault and switch to Honda's engines from 2019.
That season, Honda finally managed to take its first podiums and victories again and finish in the top 3 of the championship. Last year in the chaotic corona season, Red Bull Racing Honda even managed to secure second place and this year there are chances for the title as well. It seems that Honda has again chosen a bad moment to leave Formula 1.
View this post on Instagram