Red Bull and Honda have announced that they will be continuing to work together from 2022. This comes after Red Bull revealed a special white livery for the Turkish Grand Prix as a tribute to Honda, who will be leaving Formula 1 at the end of 2021 season.
In 2020 Honda made a decision that their engine project in Formula 1 will be coming to an end and wats to put its focus on other projects and will be quiting Formula 1 entirely. The Japanese manufacture who were supplying power units to Red Bull, handed over the duty to the team to develop and make the engines themselves.
However, in a press release Honda has announced that it will continue to work together with Red Bull. The partnership will revolve around three factors. Red Bull powertrains will own Honda engine and all information about it but Honda will still assinst in the engine production and development in 2022 and 2023. Red Bull will also be taking all the personnel from Honda.
Honda and Red Bull will also partner in the area of talent development with Honda continuing with Formula Dream Project in which AlphaTauri driver Yuki Tsunoda is a part of.
”I’m glad that we have reached an agreement with Red Bull Group covering all the details of the IP rights for the F1 Power Unit and in this way, Honda can still contribute to the motor racing world,” said Koji Watanabe the Executive Officer Honda Motors.
“We are now working hard to strengthen HRC’s structure, so that it can ensure our fans will be able to continue to enjoy Honda’s role in all types of motorsport,” he added.
“Red Bull’s collaboration with Honda has been enormously successful and while our relationship in Formula 1 is changing, neither of us wish for that to be the end of the story,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner said.
“We are very pleased that our ambitious and exciting Red Bull Powertrains project will be strongly supported by Honda, technically and operationally, in 2022 and this will help ensure that Red Bull’s transition to the status of chassis and power unit manufacturer is seamless.”
”Equally as exciting is the news that our collaboration with Honda will extend to a variety of motorsport activities, from driver development to other racing disciplines and even across the wider sporting world. This stretch of Honda’s Formula 1 voyage is coming to an end but together we are embarking on a new and fascinating journey,” concludes the Red Bull Racing team principal.
