Aditya ChaudhuriTen months after leaving the sport, Honda has announced its comeback to Formula One. The Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), along with Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT), will continue to provide Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri with its power units.
The new partnership will see the Honda branding return to the Red Bull and AlphaTauri race cars from the Japanese Grand Prix 2022 onwards. Red Bull driver Sergio Pérez will become an ambassador for the Honda Racing School’s driver academy, where he will kick off his role with a lecture session in November 2022. Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Pérez along with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly and Yuki Tsunoda will also attend the HRC THANKS DAY in November later this year.
Dr. Helmut Marko, Motorsport Advisor, Oracle Red Bull Racing, commented:
“Oracle Red Bull Racing and Honda Racing Corporation have achieved great success in Formula One together. With these new agreements, we are proud to continue going from strength to strength with the technical support from HRC until the next generation of engines are introduced in 2026. We are confident this relationship with HRC will set us up for more success in the future and thank them for their ongoing support.“
Christian Horner, Team Principal and CEO, Oracle Red Bull Racing, said:
“Honda has invested significantly in hybrid technology over the course of our partnership. This has ensured the supply of competitive power units to both teams, for which we are very grateful. Our combined goal is to continue to deliver dominant engines and achieve the most success possible in the following three years. To mark this, we look forward to welcoming the Honda logo back on to the car from Suzuka onwards.“
Koji Watanabe, Head of Corporate Communications Supervisory Unit, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and President of Honda Racing Corporation, added:
“The HRC logo on the nose and Honda logo on the side of the race machines of both teams represent the strong ties between Honda and Red Bull Group. Through the technical support provided by HRC, Honda will fully support the challenges those machines take on to become the ‘fastest in the world.’ We are very pleased that these machines will be unveiled at the F1 Japanese Grand Prix, where Honda serves as the title sponsor. Please root for the two Red Bull Group teams which compete with power units loaded with Honda technologies.“
Franz Tost, Team Principal, Scuderia AlphaTauri, added:
“Over the years we have developed an amazing working relationship with Honda and it’s great to be continuing to strengthen this with a variety of activities, including displaying the iconic logo on the car once again, starting from the Japanese Grand Prix. We are very thankful for the hard work from Honda during our time together, allowing us to achieve several podiums as well as Pierre’s race win in Monza, and we hope that this success will continue into the future.“
Honda was Red Bull and AlphaTauri’s long-term power unit supplier till the end of the 2021 season, when it walked away from the sport.
