Honda will be returning to Formula One in 2015, confirming rumours which have been circulating since the Geneva show in March.
It will team up with McLaren with Honda taking the lead on engine development and supply, including the energy recovery system, while the UK F1 specialist will be in charge of the development and manufacture of the chassis, as well as the management of the new team, McLaren Honda.
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Central to Honda’s decision to return are new F1 rules which, from next year, require the introduction of a 1.6 litre direct injection turbocharged V6 engine with energy recovery systems. This gives the carmaker the opportunity to further develop these powertrain technologies.
Honda’s on-off involvement in F1 down the years has always been with a view to developing technologies and challenging engineers. The new regulations will encourage further progress in energy management technology.
President and CEO Takanobu Ito said: “Ever since its establishment, Honda has been a company which grows by taking on challenges in racing. We have a long history of advancing our technologies and nurturing our people by participating in the world’s most prestigious automobile racing series.
“The new F1 regulations with their significant environmental focus will inspire even greater development of our own advanced technologies and this is central to our participation in F1. We have the greatest respect for the FIA’s decision to introduce these new regulations that are both highly challenging but also attractive to manufacturers that pursue environmental technologies.
“The names of McLaren and Honda are synonymous with success in F1. We want once again to take McLaren Honda to the very pinnacle of F1 success. Together we have a great legacy – and we’re utterly committed to maintaining it.”
Honda first entered F1 in 1964, developing both engine and chassis. It withdrew in 1968 but, between 1983 and 1992, returned as an engine supplier to Spirit, Lotus, McLaren, Tyrrell and Williams. It won six constructors’ and five drivers’ championships.
The carmaker returned again in 2000, providing engines for BAR and, a year later, Jordan, leading to a fight for the right to use the Honda engines in the long term. Jordan was dropped in 2003 and, at the end of the 2004 season, the company purchased 45% of the BAR team from British American Tobacco.
It ceased its F1 involvement in 2008 as the global economic crisis started to bite.
