Honda Respond To Rumors Of F1 Return

Honda made the decision to leave the sport last year and then went on to win the Drivers’ Championship with Red Bull. They now have a complicated presence in F1 where they provide technical support to Red Bull Powertrains. A host of Honda’s senior management were present in Austria and this has led to suggestions that Honda may be regretting their decision to leave F1 and are looking for a way to return
 
0:00 - Honda Respond To Rumors Of F1 Return
1:39 - Fast Feed

I'm your host Dillon Shelley and first up on Formula World:

Honda Respond To Rumors Of F1 Return
 
Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe, while speaking to AS, started off by confirming that they were not present in the meeting to discuss 2026 regulations
 
“We knew a meeting was planned but we were not there”
 
He then revealed if they are frustrated with their decision to leave F1
 
“Basically, we ended our F1 activities last year as Honda, so in that sense there is no particular frustration”
 
“HRC only provides technical support at the request of Red Bull and in accordance with their requirements. So there is also no frustration in the current situation, as we did not develop and produce the power unit on our own initiative, but cooperate with them at the request of Red Bull”
 
He signed off by directly addressing the rumours of entering F1 in a fully fledged manner given speculation that the sport itself could move to carbon neutrality in 2026
 
“I think Formula 1 has taken a great direction in the direction of CO2 neutrality. We are following the developments in F1 with great interest, but that does not mean we are talking about an immediate return to F1”
 
“We are just going to carry out the technological development that we have decided to do, and we are not talking about a return to F1 or anything like that”
 
 
Fast Feed
 
Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc stated that “the fight with Max, I love it” [Racer]
 
"We’ve known each other for a very long time — it’s always racing on the limit. You can argue that this year is a little bit less aggressive than normal with the fights between us”
 
“But we’ve grown throughout the years. We know each others’ weaknesses so we know each other very well and that’s what makes it exciting. But there is a lot of respect”
 
McLaren’s Daniel Ricciardo thinks “an accident, that falls into a bit of a different kind of territory”
 
“It's like any sport, you're always going to have for and against. And so I think on-track battles and that, to be cheered or whatever, is cool”
 
“I've never been a fan of booing, so I don't condone booing. You're going to have the ones you like, and the ones that you don't necessarily root for. But I think in an accident, you wish not to see it”
 
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff thinks that they “are missing a few tenths here and there” [F1]
 
“I think we’ve halved the gap over the last few months, we understand better, but we’re still third, fourth – we’re somewhere right in the middle of nowhere”
 
“We are starting to see we are chipping away performance from the leaders, which is good”
 
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack believes that “Sebastian [Vettel] is very, very positive, very constructive, so from that point of view, I really hope that we can continue” [F1]
 
“It would be easy for them to get frustrated but this is not what happens."
 
“Also, maybe the investment that he has made now over two years, he should also maybe be in a position to get something from it and not hand it to someone else later”
 
Retired world champion Nico Rosberg is of the opinion that “it would make sense for [Mick Schumacher] to take his time before moving on to a top team” [Eurosport]
 
“We saw that with George Russell, who drove at Williams for three years and then was ready to move up to Mercedes. There's no need to rush things”
 
 
Should Honda make a full comeback to F1?

[FormulaWorld]

0:00 - Honda Respond To Rumors Of F1 Return
1:39 - Fast Feed

[ppsac]

Shortsighted corporate decision by a board that can only see what's in it for them in the next quarter. A complete lack of vision is an understatement.

[QuackingEldrich_]

This rly is my favourite f1 news channel, the only one that keeps it straight to the point and doesn't waffle about whatever just to stretch the vid for ads

[WjCLEY]

Actually insane that they would pull themselves out of Red Bull before new regulations and while they have wasted tons of funds on one of their own young drivers in Red Bull.

[apophisstr]

It's still mind-boggling to see how Honda even have the intention to leave the sport when they've, not only just seeing light after the tunnel, but have actually risen to the top. Seriously, who made that decision lol?

[MeltingRubberZ]

I really appreciate the respect and hard racing between Leclarc and Max

[MrBboyflexibi]

McLaren needs to seriously eat humble pie, learn from past mistakes & get Honda back as their engine supplier, they won’t win a championship with Mercedes

[alexmartin]

Always knew Honda would make an almost immediate return, they just can’t keep themselves away from f1

[miggygetright]

Would be cool seeing Honda buy AlphaTauri and keep the lineup as is, Gasly will be in a team capable of contending and Yuki is a Honda Dreams Program junior so it works. They might want an all Japanese lineup though, with Iwasa doing better in F2 it could be possible by 2026.

[MeltingRubberZ]

Put Honda back on the wing of the RB 🙏

[miggygetright]

I’m not a Max or a Lewis fan but I think it’s unfair how at Silverstone last year the fans cheered when Max crashed and nobody said anything but now when Lewis did at the Red Bull Ring and people cheered there’s a fuzz over it… British bias per usual, F1 doesn’t wanna ostracize Silverstone.

[theoriginalrabbithole]

It has NEVER worked for Honda in the past to be a works team. They build great engines but not-so-great cars and being an engine supplier is always what has worked best for Honda AND Formula 1 in the past and they should stick to that.

[CTBN]

A Honda full comeback.. Yes, but the thing is teams like RBR and Mercedes-AMG have the best people and are experienced strategist.

[republikadugave]

How is F1 carbon neutral??? Whole car is made of carbon fibre...🏋️

[DrTedEsq]

Goodness! I’ve been watching your videos for years and just now realized I hadn’t subscribed! Apologies mate; I thought I already had!

As for your video, Honda is gonna Honda and I hope Vettel stays on with Aston Martin for another couple years - at least until a car comes out of their new factory.

[JulesBrunoJjBaggy]

It's so stupid but that's Honda

[Scope]

Japanese corporations make the absolute strangest decisions when it comes to business investment and divestment, they always leave at the wrong time

[GenoBady]

Honda should definitely get back into F1, in any shape way or form. Sticking with Redbull racing would be a wise choice.

[ltitus]

We will soon have Porsche, Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault as engine manufacturers. These decisions are usually money driven but even for Honda, if they had issues before, they will have even more issues of they attempt to play ball with this many manufacturers.

[nagasako]

Honda F1: We've made WC winning engine
Honda Company: Pull the plug, we're focusing on battery car advertising