Honda stopped participating in the sport as an official works team at the conclusion of the previous season, and Red Bull is now paying for its services, including the creation of this year’s power unit for the switch from E5 to E10 gasoline.
The initial plan, which was made public before the end of last year, was for the new Red Bull Powertrains subsidiary to begin acquiring entire Honda power units with full on-track engineering support only in 2022.
In 2023, 2024, and 2025, after RBP had gotten up to speed, it would produce the engines using Honda parts at its Milton Keynes factory while also working on its own project for the new F1 regulations that would take effect in 2026.
Helmut Marko, the head of Red Bull Motorsport, has disclosed that the original plan has changed, and that Honda will now continue to provide full engines from Japan to Red Bull and AlphaTauri through the end of 2025.
The choice allows RBP to concentrate more on its 2026 project and allays any worries regarding problems like quality control that would arise from relocating the construction of the power units to the UK.
To ensure that RBP will still be a new player when its own engine is released in 2026, the adjustment has been implemented in part.
Thus, it will gain from the concessions that are primarily being discussed to help persuade the VW Group to fully commit to F1, such as a larger budget cap for power units.
However, given the intention to ensure that RBP is a new player in 2026, it would make sense if the engines continued to carry the Honda badge until 2025. It is known that the specifics of the new agreements have not yet been finalized.
Marko told Autorevue magazine, “We have now also identified an entirely different answer than the one originally envisioned.”
“Until 2025, the engines will be produced in Japan; we won’t touch them at all. As a result, the Japanese will continue to own the rights to everything, which is significant for 2026 since it makes us newcomers.
In This Article...
Is a Honda engine used by Red Bull?
Red Bull’s partnership with Honda will endure for the foreseeable future as Red Bull Powertrains gradually develops their own technical and manufacturing capabilities, according to Christian Horner.
Red Bull and Honda reached an agreement that will see Honda continue to produce Red Bull’s engines during the duration of the engine freeze that takes effect for this season, up until 2025, with the company officially leaving Formula 1 as an engine manufacturer at the conclusion of 2021.
Although Honda left the Red Bull F1 teams, on paper, not much seems to have changed in the near future for those teams, with Horner describing how the partnership will function in the following season.
Most likely, he continued. “We’re now having a conversation about it. The likelihood is that the engines will still be manufactured in Japan and delivered to us as of 2022.
“We’re really appreciative that Honda extended that hand of friendship to us as we make the transition to becoming an engine producer.
“They will arrive from Japan as sealed units, and this year, Japan will also provide full racing support. Since it is a technical agreement, it is currently rather general in nature.”
Is the Honda used by Red Bull F1?
The ambitious Red Bull Powertrains project is on track, according to Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, who anticipates the first Red Bull engine to be running on the dyno by the end of 2022.
After its engine provider Honda made the decision to quit the sport at the end of 2021, Red Bull chose to create their own company, Red Bull Powertrains. However, Red Bull won’t start using their own Red Bull Powertrains unit until 2026; instead, they’ll keep using Honda technology until 2025. And Horner claims that the business has hired incredible personnel for this incredibly intriguing initiative.
We are on track in terms of our own preparation, according to Horner. By the end of the year, the first Red Bull engine will run on the dyno when we relocate to our new site in May. They are moving forward quite well, and the project is very exciting.
Why is Honda quitting Formula One?
However, the alliance is rapidly coming to an end. Honda formally declared its intention to leave Formula One at the end of current season late last year in order to concentrate its efforts on the advancement of electric road vehicle technology.
“Toyoharu Tanabe, Honda F1’s development guru, states that regardless of whether this was our final season or not, we have merely maintained working very hard. ” Since we began this program, we have put a lot of effort into it every year. It’s somewhat sentimental. It’s a little depressing to know that for us, this is the final season.
Tanabe’s voice indicates that, even though he is aware of the corporate justifications behind Honda’s choice, the knowledge that this will be the manufacturer’s final F1 season is more than a little depressing.
In F1, who will take Honda’s place?
The first Formula 1 engine with the Red Bull logo will take to the circuit for the first time next month. But only in name, the engine is a Red Bull.
Honda will continue to manufacture, assemble, maintain, and provide support for the engine it created in 2022, and it is likely that it will do so for a few years beyond that as well.
This season, Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri will formally use “Red Bull Powertrains” engines as a result of Honda’s official withdrawal from Formula One.
It implies that the short-term ambitions of world champion Max Verstappen and his team rest on a continuation project, which has historically disappointed in Formula One.
But the “not a Honda” engine is special. And that’s already an improvement over the alternatives Red Bull faced; if a few crucial choices had been made differently, it’s feasible that Red Bull would have had to find a new engine supplier altogether or been forced to use a variation of Honda’s 2020 design.
How will Red Bull be powered in 2022?
Even if Honda isn’t present on the Red Bull RB18, the company’s former engine supplier is still assisting the new Red Bull powertrains section in getting ready for 2022.
The Japanese automaker Honda expressed their desire to leave Formula 1 on top when they announced that 2021 would be their final season.
They actually did it, with Max Verstappen winning ten races last year on his way to his first World championship.
The Honda engine that powers the Dutchman and his teammate Sergio Perez this season will still be present, just not in that form.
Since the Milton Keynes team has taken over running the Honda power units, the power unit will now be rebadged as Red Bull.
However, they are not forced to do it alone because Honda is still only marginally involved.
Red Bull 2022: What Car?
Two weeks ago, the team unveiled a demonstration car in its most recent season-specific livery. But it has kept the real RB18 a secret, testing it last week at Silverstone behind closed doors until releasing the real thing today.
On the opening day of preseason testing at the Circuit de Catalunya, the RB18 captured everyone’s attention right away. Because they haven’t been entirely painted, its sidepods, which are sharply chopped away beneath its air intakes, seem to have just been finished.
Last year, Max Verstappen defeated Lewis Hamilton to win the championship in Abu Dhabi, ending the dominance of Mercedes drivers in the world championship. He has decided to replace the number 33 he has used on his car every season since making his debut in 2015 with the number one this year as the champion.
Christian Horner, the team’s principal, claimed that “The greatest team effort in our team’s history was put forth during RB18. I believe that 2021 was really tough, even as late as mid-December. Therefore, it took a tremendous amount of work to turn this around and create, design, and produce this car. It is a testament to the long hours and hard work that were put in behind the scenes in the plant and on the Milton Keynes campus that we are here today with this amazing new machine.
It would be intriguing to watch the many thoughts that the various teams have incorporated, according to Horner. “I think this car will grow quickly since the regulations are so juvenile.
The first race in Bahrain and the final race in Abu Dhabi will be a battle of development.
He claimed that keeping the Red Bull driver lineup through such a significant change in regulations had clear advantages. “They showed last year what a powerful team they are, and I believe that I anticipate it to get stronger this year. Checo is in his second season with the team, and with such a significant regulatory change, it goes without saying that you want your two drivers to function as a team. This is really important to us.
Is the Honda or Aston Martin F1 car owned by Red Bull?
After 12 years and eight world championship titles with the French manufacturer, Honda will take over as the driving force behind their Formula 1 title aspirations. The team will continue to compete under the name Aston Martin Red Bull Racing.
Honda will they ever come back to F1?
As a result, when I ran into Watanabe in Red Bulls Energy Station, I asked him if Honda and HRC were interested in staying up to date on the 2026 regulation revisions. He responded, “We are always observing what is happening in the F1 world.”
Naturally, because we recently finished and concluded our F1 activities, the Honda firm has not yet discussed the 2026 season. Hence, no plan.
It is not a closed door [to F1], he continued. According to what I gather, F1 is debating the rules for 2026, and carbon neutrality is unquestionably the direction things are going. We are traveling in the same direction. It’s not a closed door because it’s probably a wonderful opportunity to research carbon neutrality to F1.
Honda has not participated in the negotiations about the 2026 engine standards, according to Watanabe.
Currently, the focus of Japanese automakers is on making their mass-produced road cars carbon neutral, but according to Watanabe, once we realize that we can do this, we can think about F1.
Are Honda’s F1 days over?
Following seven years of providing hybrid power units to first McLaren, then AlphaTauri, and ultimately Red Bull, Honda stated in October 2020 that it would end its F1 program after the 2021 season.
Due to this, Red Bull decided to headquarter the engine development at its Milton Keynes site. To lead the new Red Bull Powertrains section, Red Bull attracted personnel from Honda and other rival teams.
Honda struggled for years with McLaren, but in the end produced significant engine advancements that allowed Red Bull to fight with the strong Mercedes team and enabling Max Verstappen to win the 2021 world championship in a thrilling final matchup with Lewis Hamilton.
Personally, I concur, Yamamoto said. However, it is clear that this was a corporate choice, and I concur with the direction the company is taking, so in the end, we must accept that.
“However, we always have the ability to dream, therefore we hope Honda will return to F1 someday.”