Honda: A History In Formula One

Since Honda, as an engine supplier, withdrew from Formula One at the end of 2021; questions were asked as to whether we would see the Japanese firm in F1 again. With new engine regulations from 2026 onwards, their return was to be expected and Honda, themselves, made it no secret that they were more than interested in making a comeback as a power unit supplier. In the run up to this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix, their 2026 return was confirmed, where they’ll be joining forces with Aston Martin as a works team. However, although we act like Honda made their departure in 2021, it should be noted that they have since played a pivotal role in supplying power trains for the Red Bull backed teams of Red Bull Racing and Alpha Tauri, which in turn has rewarded Red Bull Racing with two driver championships and a constructors title. Regardless, Honda is a big name in Formula One and in this post we’re going to be looking back at the history of Honda and their time in the sport.

Over the years, like Ferrari and Ford, for example; Honda has become one of those car manufacturers that you naturally associate with motorsport; with their first appearance on the Formula One grid coming all the way back in 1964, just a handful years after they produced their first road car. And, that wasn’t all. The team, based in Japan, had spent time and money building their own engine and chassis, something that was a rarity in the early F1 days. The team’s first win came in 1965 when their then driver, Richie Ginther, won the Mexican Grand Prix. This was the first time a “non-European” team had won an official F1 race.

1966 was a quiet year for Honda. Their next win didn’t come until 1967, when the legendary John Surtees was at the wheel, their only driver for that season. Despite this, the team would go on to finish 4th in that year’s Constructors Championship. For Honda, however, their time in this era of F1 was coming to a close. After several reliability problems the following year, a crash, which resulted in the death of Jo Schlesser, confirmed Honda’s future, for the time being. They left the sport at the end of 1968.

Over a decade later, in 1983, Honda made their return to the sport as an engine supplier with Spirit as their first customer. Within the next 11 years, they would also supply engines to Williams, Lotus, McLaren and Tyrrell. Like in the present day, Honda would supply several teams at a time. Interestingly however, not every team would have the same specification, giving one team more of an advantage than another. But, it soon became apparent in 1985, that the Honda engine was the one to beat.

In this era of F1, many big names raced with a Honda engine. From Keke Rosberg to Nelson Piquet to Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, just to name a few. And, it’s no surprise that this is the engine drivers wanted. By the early 1990’s, Honda had accumulated over 70 wins, six consecutive constructor titles and five driver championships including those won by Piquet, Prost and Senna. The most successful seasons came for Honda during their collaboration with McLaren with 44 wins out of 80 starts. At the end of 1992, Honda pulled out, yet again.

In 2000, Honda returned for a third stint within the sport, providing free engines to BAR as well as Jordan Grand Prix the following year. In 2003, Honda dropped the latter to focus purely on BAR, despite Jordan Grand Prix’s better results. Eventually, Honda purchased a stake in the BAR team and finished the 2004 season as runner up, behind the ever so dominate Ferrari. The next season, Honda would purchase the remainder of BAR and rename the team for the 2006 season to Honda Racing F1 Team. This would be the first time, since the 1960’s, that Honda would enter its own team into Formula One.

The 2006 season started quite well for Honda with podiums and pole positions. Reliability, however, soon became a problem and results were inconsistent. Fortunes changed at that year’s Hungarian Grand Prix when the team scored its first win in this era of Formula One. Jenson Button took the top step, despite starting 14th on the grid.

Unfortunately for Honda, in 2007 they lost one of their big sponsors - British American Tobacco. This was down to the new ban on tobacco sponsorships within motorsport. And, things didn’t get any better, with aerodynamic issues being the sole cause of a tough year. Eventually, the team’s best result that season, was 5th at the Chinese Grand Prix.

Former Ferrari technical director; Ross Brawn, joined the team as team principle for 2008, but this had no effect on improving the team’s performance from the previous year. By mid-season, all focus had been switched to the 2009 car. At the end of 2008, Honda quit for a third time, with team principle, Ross Brawn, eventually buying Honda out and renaming the team to Brawn GP. Honda continued to give Brawn GP vital financial support during its first and only season in Formula One, in which they won both the Constructors and Drivers Championships. At the end of 2009, Mercedes, Brawn GP’s engine supplier, had purchased the majority of the team and renamed it to Mercedes GP for the following year. Honda was out.

It wasn’t long before they were back again, but this time as an engine supplier. In 2015, Honda joined forces with McLaren, a collaboration that previously worked wonders. However, this time, was not meant to be. Over the course of the 2015 season the power train was underpowered and extremely unreliable. Many reasons were thrown around as to why this was, including lack of knowledge with the new regulations, McLaren’s “size zero” car concept and Honda returning earlier than planned. Things improved for 2016 but after another disastrous 2017, the Honda/McLaren relationship had broken down and the two parted ways.

With McLaren switching to Renault power for 2018, Honda forged a partnership with Toro Rosso. The power unit that Honda supplied the younger of the Red Bull teams in 2018 turned out to be much more reliable than the previous season and by the Canadian Grand Prix it was announced, that from 2019, Honda would be powering the main Red Bull team; Red Bull Racing, as well as Toro Rosso. 2019 was classed a “building year” for both Red Bull and Honda, in order to prepare for a World Championship contention in the near future.

And, a successful start it was. Red Bull ended the 2019 season with a third in the Constructors Championship, Toro Rosso was sixth. And, not only that, Honda was the engine supplier with the fewest on track failures which in turn caused zero engine related retirements for either team.

In a COVID-stricken 2020, the Red Bull-Honda package quickly became the second fastest on track with slight set backs with the chassis and power unit leaving them slightly slower than their rivals, Mercedes. But all was not lost as Red Bull finished second in the standings. Down at Toro Rosso, which had since been rebranded as Alpha Tauri, Frenchman Pierre Gasly, scored the team’s first win with a Honda power train. Other than Mercedes, Honda was the only other engine manufacturer to score any wins or pole positions during 2020.

With things looking on the up, in October 2020, Honda announced they were leaving Formula One at the end of 2021. The 2021 power unit was extremely competitive against its Mercedes equivalent and gave Red Bull driver; Max Verstappen, his first World Championship. Because of this, Honda became the first engine manufacturer to beat Mercedes in the most recent turbo-hybrid era.

As mentioned before, Honda are still involved with Red Bull and Alpha Tauri by continuing to supply and service power units under the name “Red Bull Powertrains.” This is until 2025. In 2022, the Red Bull Powertrain went from strength to strength over the course of the season. Max Verstappen clinched a consecutive Drivers Championship and the Red Bull team won their first constructors since the early 2010’s.

In 2026, Honda will be partnering up with Aston Martin and will be supplying them as a works team. Ironically, Aston Martin used to be known as Jordan Grand Prix, back in the day. The team Honda dropped to focus on BAR in the early 2000’s.

So there we have it. The history of Honda in Formula One. Despite the inconsistencies as to whether they want to be in the sport or not, it’s a pretty nice sight to see that they are going to be sticking around a little while longer. They have some of the most interesting stats when it comes to motorsport and I, for one, am looking forward to their new collaboration with Aston. What do you think? Let me know below!

Let’s Discuss: Formula 2 So Far In 2023

Formula 2, like every other motorsport series in 2023, is in full swing and, only eight races in, has been anything but a disappointment. But, that's Formula 2 for you though. With twenty two drivers trying to catch the eye of Formula 1 teams, there's going to be some excellent racing, that's for sure.

Going into the season, French driver; Theo Pourchaire, was the bookies favourite to win the championship. After finishing runner up in 2022, it's hard to bet against him. However, although the current leader of the championship, it's not been plane sailing for the ART driver. After a dominant weekend at the opening round in Bahrain, Pourchaire has somewhat "blended" into the background with numerous DNFs. You have to ask, "how is he still top of the table?" Luckily for him, when he has finished in the points, it's always been higher than 5th. Is he proving to us that consistency is key and you don't need to win everything to win the championship? Maybe. Maybe not. He needs to keep his wits about him though, as there are many races to go and plenty of other drivers waiting in the wings.

One of these drivers goes by the name of Oliver Bearman. And, I've singled him out because he's one of the biggest surprises so far this season. Others may not agree with that and rather have expected him to go well after finishing 3rd in last year's Formula 3 championship behind Victor Martins and Zane Maloney. Currently sitting 4th in the championship standings, what makes Bearman so impressive is his back-to-back wins in Baku that seem to have come from nowhere. Before the Baku weekend, the British driver was only on 3 points, a number way off the lead. And, with a weekend that would have surely increased his confidence as an F2 driver, Bearman has surely entered the chat. Pourchaire needs to keep his eyes peeled because Bearman is one of many drivers coming for the crown.

Two drivers that won't be coming for the crown are Roy Nissany and Amaury Cordeel. Both are seasoned drivers in F2 and both are currently sat on zero points with regular incident packed races. Why are they still racing in this category? Well, we definitely know that answer... They're like the present day version of Johnny Cecotto Jr and Sergio Canamasas. If you know, you know.

Moving on, let's talk racetracks.

So far this season we've really only seen street circuits, with the opening round in Bahrain being the only purpose built racetrack to appear. And, all of them, bar Australia, have appeared on the calendar before. That's right. Formula 2 went to Australia for the first time. And, that's a good thing. With F2 being centralised around Europe and the Middle East, these young drivers aren't getting a taster of tracks further a field. And, not only that, with Formula One being at the height of its popularity, F2 has also stepped into the limelight meaning fans across the world want the opportunity to see these young guns fight for a chance in the pinnacle of motorsport. Formula 2 going to Australia is doing just that. It's a good move for the sport.

Monaco, the final street circuit of the year, is up next and chaos is surely guaranteed. Can Pourchaire extend his championship lead? Can any other driver stop him? What about Bearman and the other rookies? Can any of them pull of a championship winning rookie year? It's possible. Excitement awaits us for the rest of the season. Bring it on.

Formula E: The Season So Far

Wow, doesn't time fly when you're having fun! And, with the 2023 Formula E season now at its half-way stage, I think it's fair to say that the season, so far, has been nothing less than thrilling and fascinating.

So far, we have seen six different winners in 9 different races and only two of them are from the same team. We've had an inaugural race in South Africa and return trips to many of our favourite tracks that have coughed up plenty of on track action. This season has been nail biting and we've still got a long way to go. But before that, shall we have a catch up of the season far? You betcha.

The season began back in January with the Mexico City E-Prix. Lucas di Grassi, in his debut race for Mahindra Racing, took pole position. At lights out, di Grassi managed to keep hold of his lead while further back the scrap for positions began. ABT Cupra driver; Robin Frijns, collided with the Nissan of Norman Nato. Both drivers had to withdraw from the race, with Frijns finding himself in hospital with a broken wrist. Once the racing was back underway, Jake Dennis managed to get his Andretti past di Grassi and into the lead. Attack modes were being activated left, right and centre. Porsche driver; Pascal Wehrlein, used his to his advantage when passing the McLaren of Jake Hughes for third. Wehrlein repeated this feat again in the latter stages of the race, taking second of di Grassi. At this point, Dennis was long gone and won the race nearly eight seconds ahead of Wehrlein. di Grassi held onto third.

Next up was the first double header of the season - Diriyah E-Prix in Saudi Arabia. After breaking his wrist in Mexico, Robin Frijns was replaced by Kelvin Van Der Linde. Sebastien Buemi, in his Envision, was the driver who stuck his car on pole for the first of the two races in the desert. Unfortunately however, on lap seven of the race, Jaguar driver; Sam Bird, overtook Buemi for the lead. The Envision driver's misery didn't end there as Wehrlein then made an appearance in the Swiss drivers wing mirrors before making his way past. Lap thirty and Wehrlein had managed to hunt down Bird, taking the lead in the process. He then went on to win the race, only his second victory in Formula E. Current championship leader; Jake Dennis, finished second with Bird rounding out the podium places.

Jake Hughes found himself on pole for Race Two but was overtaken by Mitch Evans in the Jaguar at the first corner. René Rast, Hughes' McLaren teammate, used Attack Mode to then take the lead from Evans. Wehrlein, also using attack mode, became the fourth leader of the race when he caught Rast on lap seventeen. The German driver then made a comfortable lead and took another win that weekend, putting himself into the driver's seat, pun not intended, for the driver's championship. Dennis, who took second the day before, finished second once again, but it was not enough to stay ahead in the championship standings. Rast would cross the line in third.

A trip to India was next up for our Formula E circus with the Hyderabad E-Prix. Mitch Evans was the pole sitter for this race. DS Penske's Jean-Eric Vergne sat in second. It was an initial good get away from the front row starters, but on lap seven Sebastien Buemi overtook the pair of them for the lead. Evans' race was about to get even worse when he fell to third before being hit and spun around by his teammate; Sam Bird, eliminating both of them from the race. On lap fifteen, Vergne made his move for the lead, overtaking the Envision of Buemi. Nick Cassidy, in the second Envision car, made the most of his attack modes and found himself in second place, ahead of his teammate, by lap seventeen. A safety car was quickly deployed when the McLaren of Hughes ended up in the wall. This then caused a chain reaction as at the restart Rast and Dennis collided, taking them both out of the race. For Vergne though, he held on and took his first win of the season. Cassidy, who finished with more energy than Vergne, settled for second. Porsche driver; Antonio Felix da Costa, took third.

Not only was round five the inaugural Cape Town E-Prix, it also saw a maiden pole position for Nissan driver; Sacha Fenestraz. There was mayhem on lap one when Wehrlein, the then championship leader, retired from the race after colliding with the back of Buemi's Envision. After the first round of attack modes, it was Cassidy who yet again took advantage and found himself in the lead. Max Guenther, who had been fighting alongside Fenestraz and Cassidy for the lead, clipped a wall, damaging his Maserati and finding himself out of the race. This promoted da Costa and Vergne into podium positions. But that wasn't enough for da Costa and, on lap twenty four, he overtook Cassidy for the lead. However, things then got a bit hairy for da Costa when he missed the activation point for attack mode, handing the lead to Vergne in the process. Again, the Porsche driver wanted more and managed to get back into the lead where he would hold on and cross the finish line 0.2 seconds ahead of second placed man; Vergne. Fenestraz, who was running in third, crashed on the final lap, handing the last podium place to Cassidy.

It was another debut race for the next round. But, this time in São Paulo, Brazil. Robin Frijns was back after his injury in race one. Stoffel Vandoorne, the reigning champion, took his first pole position for DS Penske at this race. But, would he be able to hold on for the win? The first half of the race was plagued with battles for the lead with Cassidy being the eventual leader. On lap fourteen, Nio's Dan Ticktum collided with Dennis who in turn hit Wehrlein. The three-way collision ended Dennis' race much earlier than he anticipated. Ticktum and Wherlein were able to carry on. Towards the end of the race, on lap thirty two, Evans made a successful lunge for the lead, taking it off his fellow countryman; Cassidy. Evans would win the inaugural São Paulo E-Prix with Cassidy and Bird taking up the remaining podium spots.

Another double header awaited the drivers for the next round with the Berlin E-Prix in Germany. Buemi was the driver on pole for race one but, as with the previous race, there were many changes for the lead early on after drivers decided to activate their attack modes earlier than we've become accustomed too. Lap twelve saw the first safety car period after a collision between Sergio Sette Camara and René Rast. Eight laps later, the safety car was back out again after Ticktum clipped Vandoorne, taking them both out of the race. It was another disappointing race for Dennis who, on lap thirty one, hit da Costa while trying to pass Guenther for fifth position. Back at the front, it was Evans leading again, eventually taking his second consecutive win of the season. Bird and Guenther overtook pole sitter; Buemi, on the final lap to claim the final podium positions.

A surprise was in store for race two when a wet qualifying session saw the ABT Cupras of Frijns and Nico Muller lock out the front row. Once the lights went green, the race, in places, was almost a carbon copy of the day before. With early attack mode activation and numerous changes for the lead, it was hard to know who was going to win. New Zealander; Cassidy, made his move for the lead on lap twenty five. And, after a relatively quiet race when it came to incidents, Cassidy took the chequered the flag. Jake Dennis, finally getting some reprieval, finished in second with the DS of Jean-Eric Vergne in third. Muller, who started on the front row, finished in ninth meaning he scored points for the first time this season.

Half way through the season and it was time for the Monaco E-Prix. Fenestraz was the man on pole. However, he was then disqualified due to exceeding the power usage limit. McLaren man, Jake Hughes, was left to inherit pole. An incident filled race saw Hughes get away at the line unscathed. Andrea Lotterer was first driver out after crashing at the final corner. This was followed by Oliver Rowland losing his front wing at the chicane. In the meantime, both Evans and Cassidy were flying through the field and quickly became contenders for the win. Dan Ticktum and Norman Nato both received damage when they came together at the Rascasse corner. Ticktum would be in another incident later on when his rear was hit by Max Guenther. The damage was so severe for Guenther that he stopped on track and brought out the safety car. In the latter stages of the race, Cassidy found himself leading. A late-race shunt for Nico Muller brought out the safety car once more and sealed Cassidy's fate. The race ended under safety car with the driver from New Zealand taking the chequered flag. Mitch Evans and Jake Dennis would also end up on the podium.

There we have it - the first half of the Formula E season. But what about the current championship standings?

As we know, Wehrlein has spent a lot of this season with the championship lead. However, the German driver hasn't been as consistent in recent races meaning he has lost his lead to the ever improving Nick Cassidy in the Envision racing car. Cassidy currently sits twenty points ahead of Wehrlein who is in second. The full championship standings can be seen below (via wikipedia):

With seven races left in the season, there is still a lot of excitement to come. Can Cassidy keep his impressive form up? Can Wehrlein fight back? What about our reigning world champ; Stoffel Vandoorne? Can he get is first win of the season? There are so many questions and I am so excited to see how the rest of the season plays out! Unfortunately, it does mean having to wait a few weeks before the season resumes. But when it does, I will be ready. I'm sure you will be too.