Honda dropped a bomb last week when it was announced that it would be leaving the Formula 1 paddock after the 2021 season. And while we were talking about what Honda had in mind for the future (spoiler: it is electrification) we have to talk pretty seriously about what this means for Red Bull Racing, F1 and all of racing.
With the exception of Ferrari, engine manufacturers come and go in Formula 1. Some go away forever. Others just leave to come back after a few years and reassess their priorities. Difficult to make predictions about Honda’s path, but I’ll be honest: it doesn’t sound like it’s coming back to F1. At least not in the near future.
This leaves three engine manufacturers in F1: Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault. Each of these three manufacturers also has its own F1 factory team. Basically, this means that Renault will deliver its best engines to Renault, Mercedes to Mercedes and Ferrari to Ferrari. Everyone else is essentially customers, which isn’t necessarily a terrible situation. Even if Racing Point is a Mercedes-powered car, it will likely be tested after Mercedes-AMG Petronas put its own house in order.
Currently only Red Bull Racing and its junior team operate AlphaTauri Honda engines. That meant they were getting all the attention from Honda for 2020.
Red Bull Racing has claimed it will be “well equippedTo deal with Honda’s departure. The team itself is going nowhere as it signed F1’s latest Concorde deal in exchange for signing up for at least five more competitive years. And there is hope that Red Bull itself can negotiate a deal with a successful engine manufacturer.
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As you can imagine, engine manufacturers who also lead factory teams are not exactly keen on passing their technology on to the competition. Red Bull Racing is generally a competitive team that can secure podiums and the occasional race win.
The last thing a works team wants to do is offer Red Bull the technology that could cause them to beat their main team. I mean look at this bad blood that lingers between Renault and Red Bull Racing after the two separate paths. Red Bull accused Renault of giving the team sloppy, uncompetitive engines. Renault wasn’t exactly interested in putting a customer above its own interests. And that bad blood was largely the result of Renault joining as a works team. Before that, Red Bull Racing was more than happy with what Renault had to offer. After all, the duo won several championships together.
So Red Bull has to negotiate a new deal, but it’s unlikely anyone will be eager to step on the table.
When that happens – if Red Bull is unable to secure an engine manufacturer before the 2021 season – there is a clause in the rules that states that the engine manufacturer who supplies the least amount of engines to the F1 network To deliver engines to an engine. less team.
Both Ferrari and Mercedes supply engines to three teams. Renault supplies engines to two teams. That means Renault would be forced to step on the plate. And if Red Bull is unable to attract an entirely new engine manufacturer, the team will likely use Renault Power again. It’s not ideal, but it’s not the end of the world.
But Honda’s exit is not a particularly good sign for Formula 1, especially since the manufacturer renewed his commitment to the IndyCar series as IndyCar is pursuing a new range of hybrid technologies. It is a real downer for Formula 1 that Honda is dropping the so-called high point of motorsport because it did not adjust to its future views in another sport immediately before his five more years in another sport.
It’s unlikely that Honda’s departure will cause the F1 to be forgotten. But bleeding motor manufacturers are never a good sign.
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