Honda announced in October 2020 that it would be withdrawing from Formula 1 after the 2021 season, with partner team Red Bull moving engine production for the engines used by both Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri internally to its Milton Keynes campus .
While Honda will support Red Bull with its engine, Honda’s F1 director Masashi Yamamoto previously stated that the development is “completely controlled by Red Bull, but in accordance with Red Bull’s wish”.
Honda began its most recent stint in F1 with a strained three-year partnership with McLaren that ended prematurely after the 2017 season due to a lack of results and an increasingly difficult collaboration.
In the early years, Honda had particular problems with MGU-H development and matching its engine concept to McLaren’s specific design requirements, while communication between the two parties also proved to be a hurdle.
McLaren switched to Renault for the 2018 season, while Honda drew on Red Bull’s B-Team, Toro Rosso, paving the way for a full-blown Red Bull partnership from 2019.
Even the two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, who drove for McLaren every three years with Honda, did not make him popular with the proud Japanese company and notoriously called his engine a “GP2 engine” during the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix.
Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1
Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images
But now Honda is leaving the sport. Alonso says he is delighted with the manufacturer’s win and sad that he is leaving the sport.
“When they left McLaren, of course, they didn’t think they were dreaming of the Formula 1 championship. But they did a very good job, they hired the right people,” Alonso said when asked by Motorsport.com about his Thoughts on Honda leaving F1.
“I think they changed management, introduced a new philosophy and done their job, and I’m so happy for them. And I’m sad that they are leaving now. But hopefully they will come back.”
Alonso said that despite the rift created by the McLaren and Honda split, he now has good relations with Yamamoto and said he moved to Honda’s F1 boss immediately after Verstappen won the world title in Abu Dhabi.
“I spoke to Yamamoto-san all these 3-4 last Grand Prix because I have a very good connection with him,” revealed Alonso.
“He was the guy who allowed me to test MotoGP etc and we still have a very good relationship. And he was the first guy I congratulated after Max at Parc Ferme so I’m happy for her. “
