Masashi Yamamoto was in charge of Honda’s Formula One project and thinks the corporation left too early – He hopes for a comeback
Honda has ended its involvement in Formula 1 at its peak. With Max Verstappen’s world championship triumph in Abu Dhabi, the Japanese said goodbye (once again) to the premier class. From 2022, Red Bull will take over the engine project and continue it under the name “Red Bull Powertrains”.
The Honda technology will thus remain with the Bulls and Formula 1. Further successes are not out of the question, which is why Masashi Yamamoto, who was responsible for the project, asked whether Honda had left the premier class too early. “Personally, I agree,” Yamamoto reveals.
“But of course it’s a company decision and I understand the direction they want to go. We have to accept that,” said the Japanese. Honda justified its exit from Formula 1, which was already announced in 2020, at the time by saying that it wanted to make the group climate-neutral by 2050.
“We hope that Honda will return to Formula One one day,” said Yamamoto, who described Verstappen’s title win in Abu Dhabi as the “best day in my career”. “It’s satisfaction that we did our job rather than relief,” the Japanese driver said, describing his feelings.
“Our goal, and theirs, was to win the championship within three years. That’s exactly what happened in 2021 – and even within the time window we set ourselves,” Yamamoto explains. Honda had been supplying Red Bull with engines since 2019. In their third and last year together, they won the World Championship for the first time.
According to Yamamoto, a big part of this was that they brought the new engine, which was originally not planned until 2022, already in 2021. “That definitely improved the performance and also the reliability a lot,” he reports. He also said the multi-year collaboration with Red Bull had paid off.
“The integration [into the chassis] was much better,” says Yamamoto. Honda, by the way, will not be leaving Formula 1 completely this year, and will at least continue to support Red Bull after taking over the engine project.
“As Honda, we want to support them as much as possible with our resources to make this project a success,” says Yamamoto. However, the Honda name will disappear from the premier class in 2022. A look at the history of Formula 1 shows, however, that this does not have to remain the case for long.
Honda has already left the premier class several times – and has always returned. Yamamoto’s wish for a comeback could therefore come true.
