Honda has no plans to revive its Formula 1 factory team under the new budget cap rules due to arrive after next season.
The Japanese engine manufacturer is enjoying its best season since returning to F1, winning twice with Red Bull. However asked by RaceFans whether that has encouraged it to consider re-forming its factory team, Honda managing director Masashi Yamamoto said “no, not at the moment.”“We know that continuity in Formula 1 is very important,” he explained. “So we have done five years for power unit and somehow now reaching a good area.
“However if we start the chassis now we are going to have another struggle again which we don’t want.”
Honda previously ran a full works team between 1964 and 1968. It revived its factory team in 2006 and scored a single win that year. But Honda slumped badly in 2007 and 2008, and withdrew from the championship due to the worldwide financial crisis at the time.
Yamamoto acknowledged that remaining as an engine supplier means Honda has little influence over the future direction of the sport.
“There’s not much advantage for being a supplier in this world,” he said. “However as you can you know from our name Honda Motor, we have started with engine. So we think we are the specialists about engine so we want to be the top in the highest technology of engine world for us. That’s what we are trying.”
“Of course it’s kind of like a disadvantage being a supplier in terms of regulations,” Yamamoto added. “But we are joining the manufacturers’ meeting for power unit so we can discuss about the regulation there.
“In addition about regulation and sporting regulations, technical regulations, we can discuss with Red Bull and Toro Rosso.”
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NewVerstappenFan (@jureo)
7th October 2019, 8:44
Why should they revive Factory team?
Red Bull is their best bet. If they did a factory effort at best they’d be around Renault. And Renault is racing beside successful privateers.
OOliver
7th October 2019, 10:45
The problem with the last Honda race team wasn’t money.
All through their history right from the time they were known as BAR, they had serious funding but not the equivalent ambition. They team also didn’t lack talent in terms of personnel, they just lacked that self belief.
The double diffuser Brawn car wasn’t even a well designed car, it just had exceptional downforce through a loop hole or hole in the floor. It actually took the focus of Mercedes and a few years and beers to iron out their weaknesses for them to become a consistent competitor.
Then for Honda again, they, the Japanese seem to be made of very brittle skin. A single criticism from their home market is enough for them to pull out from serious investments they may have made in F1. They later on they come back and start all over and then quit.
Honda must always keep a small budget for racing research even if they pull out again, because starting from scratch every time is always the more expensive option.
Ipsom
7th October 2019, 11:23
Took them 5 years to get an engine decent.
Imagine how long it’ll take with an entire team, and a budget cap on top! They won’t be able to outspend the competition to a decent car
Ipsom
7th October 2019, 11:23
*entire car
Adam (@rocketpanda)
7th October 2019, 12:33
I’d love to see a full Honda team back in F1 but at the moment that’s essentially Red Bull/Toro Rosso. At least for now I think both organisations are stronger together than apart.
Jere (@jerejj)
7th October 2019, 15:04
”Honda previously ran a full works team between 1964 and 1968. It revived its factory team in 2006 and scored a single win that year. But Honda slumped badly in 2007 and 2008, and withdrew from the championship due to the worldwide financial crisis at the time.”
– A contradicting wording there as the 2006-08 period is indeed when Honda ‘previously’ ran a full-works team, so the following text contradicts the first part of the sentence, LOL. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t mind if, in a scenario where Red Bull leaves F1, Honda would subsequently form up/revive their works-team in place of them, and thus, start using the Milton Keynes-facilities currently occupied by the Red Bull Racing team.
Matt
7th October 2019, 18:38
It’s a real shame the amount of full factory teams or engine suppliers that have been and gone in ‘recent’ times. Imagine a grid made up of teams or suppliers like the following:
Mercedes
Ferrari
Mclaren
Honda
Toyota
Renault
Ford
Jaguar
BMW
Before even thinking about Williams, red bull, racing point, haas, alfa etc
Aaa123
8th October 2019, 6:07
It’s not necessarily a bad thing that they’re gone. Some of the teams you listed were hilariously badly run from clueless corporate HQs and left when they didn’t get their way, or got scared of financial issues. A brief look particularly at the Jaguar and Toyota team histories should be enough to put you off wanting full factory grids.
Boards and stockholders don’t really care for racing as a rule.
James (@knewman)
7th October 2019, 19:27
I’d bet that if Dietrich Mateschitz suddenly lost interest in F1, Honda would buy RBR and field at least one of the teams. In a very hypothetical world.
JMDan (@danmar)
7th October 2019, 21:16
Poor Honda. Relegated to being simply an engine manufacturer. I wonder who built the rest of my car. -)
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
7th October 2019, 23:21
Manufacturers dont want to race, they want to win. No budget cap won’t attract manufacturers, it will help real racers.
Islander
8th October 2019, 9:21
Jackie Stewart has a green tartan suit hanging ready and waiting for a possible return of Ford/Jaguar to the scene. I guess the moths will get there first.