HONDA The Power of Dreams

In the summer of 2012, Honda had already begun considering a return to F1. It had only been three and a half years since December 2008, when the company announced its withdrawal. However, then-president Takanobu Ito had already made up his mind.

When Honda’s third era ended in 2008, Takeo Fukui, then president, used the phrase “complete withdrawal,” rather than “suspension” as had been used in the previous eras. Ito was well aware of the weight of these words. At the same time, however, he also felt strongly that “Honda must return to F1.”

At the same time, Honda’s business was stabilized, with cumulative global sales of its hybrid vehicles exceeding 800,000 units as of the end of December 2011, and in Japan, the percentage of hybrid vehicles among Honda’s registered vehicles in the same period exceeded 45%. Awareness of environmental issues was rising worldwide at this time. In response, the FIA established completely new technical regulations for F1, deciding to introduce an environmentally friendly V6 turbo hybrid F1 power unit (PU) that used a then-unknown thermal energy recovery system starting in 2014. The PU would be a hybrid system combining a conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) with an energy regeneration system (ERS). For Honda, which views F1 as its venue of technological challenges, this was a major reason to return to the sport.

In July 2012 Yasuhisa Arai, then director and senior managing executive officer of Honda R&D, who would later assume overall responsibility for Honda F1, was summoned by President Ito.

“Today we are going to talk about racing,” Ito began. To Arai, who was then top of HGT’s mass-production vehicle development, this was someone-else’s matter. He was completely at a loss as to why he had been invited to the meeting, which was also attended by the domestic racing staff. When asked which he thought was better, F1 or the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he replied, “In terms of glamour, I would say Le Mans,” a simple answer in hindsight.

In the summer of 2012, only a little more than a year had passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake. Honda R&D had suffered tremendous damage, and data recovery and building restoration were just about finished. Arai was also in charge of Honda R&D’s reconstruction. Frankly speaking, he was too busy for racing.

Ito, however, had already decided on Honda’s return to F1. Nevertheless, the gap since the end of the third era was significant, so a project team was set up under the direct supervision of the president, and engineers who had experienced the second and third eras were sent to the working group for formulating new technology regulations between the FIA, the teams, and the automobile manufacturers to gather information.

At the same time, Honda was considering how to participate in F1. When Honda had become a full factory team well into its third era, the annual costs were said to be several tens of billions of yen. This was a major point of regret. The option of starting a team from scratch was therefore eliminated at an early stage.

In February 2013, Ito once again summoned Arai.

“I think F1 is tough, and it was the F1 village,” Arai recalled. “He told me to ‘go and become a resident of the F1 village.’ To become a resident. That means, we were in, and there was no out. I felt his enthusiasm, so I decided to do it.”

Honda’s re-entry into F1 meant it would not pull out again.

In May of that year, Ito held an emergency press conference and announced Honda’s return to F1 in 2015 as a power unit supplier for McLaren, partner in the second era, as a joint project. With Yasuhisa Arai in charge of the F1 project, Honda was off to a rough start.

When Ito was selecting which team to collaborate with, the Williams F1 team was on his list of candidates. However, Ito's top priority was McLaren, which had demonstrated the highest level of competitiveness, winning a total of 44 grands prix between 1988 and 1992, and winning eight drivers’ and constructors’ championships combined. He had a strong feeling that they were the best partners in history.

Even for McLaren, founded in 1963, its most successful period throughout its long history was from 1988 to 1992, as McLaren-Honda. Martin Whitmarsh, CEO of McLaren Group Limited, who was present at Honda’s press conference announcing its return F1, was of the generation that had the experience of success with Honda etched in their minds. His statement that “Honda is the best engineering partner for McLaren as we seek further success in F1” was no mere diplomatic comment.

On the other hand, although McLaren was being supplied with Mercedes engines, it was no longer receiving full support after 2010, when Mercedes returned to F1 as a factory team, Mercedes GP. That was one of the reasons why the McLaren’s constructors' results gradually dropped from second place in 2010 to fifth in 2014. In that sense, Honda’s offer was a godsend for McLaren.

From February 2013, the steering committee began to hold management-level discussions and technical meetings between engineers from both sides, alternating between the U.K. and Japan.

However, in January 2014, just one year after the start of the collaboration, Whitmarsh, whom Arai had described as his “most trusted partner,” was dismissed. Ron Dennis, former CEO of the McLaren Group, was brought back to the team. Dennis installed Eric Boullier, who had been at Lotus, as the competitor representative.

While McLaren’s structure was undergoing drastic changes, Honda quietly proceeded with its PU development. Honda’s philosophy of minimizing mechanical parts applied not only to its products, but to its racing machines as well. The idea of fitting the turbo and compressor within the engine’s bank angle came as a matter of course from Honda engineers. How small could the PU be made? It was purely a technical challenge for Honda, and was never forced by McLaren.

For McLaren, a smaller PU would make the car more compact and improve aerodynamic performance. There was no reason for them to refuse. At the launch of the new MP4-30 just prior to the start of the 2015 season, Dennis announced the “size zero” concept in high spirits.

However, McLaren-Honda suffered in its first year of competition. In particular, it lacked speed in qualifying, and the best grid position of all the 19 races was 11th. It never finished in the top 10, and in fact, failing to proceed from Q1 was the norm. In the races, the best result was a 5th place finish. Even with two of the best drivers in the sport, Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button, who had both won drivers’ championships, there was nothing that could be done.

The major cause was undoubtedly the lack of power and reliability of Honda’s PU. The concept adopted by Honda could not efficiently regenerate heat energy from the MGU-H *4 as needed, and was very difficult to cool. Honda, which began development several years behind Mercedes and Ferrari-Renault, was fatally lacking in this knowhow.

Although the problems were identified, the token system, which limited the improvements that could be made during the season, made it impossible for fundamental design changes or other measures. The Japanese GP, which was supposed to be a triumphant race for Honda, became a symbol of the company’s predicament. Alonso, who qualified 14th, was passed on the straights many times during the race, due to lack of regenerative energy. Alonso in his frustration shouted, "It’s a GP2 engine!” Even Button was baffled, saying, “There’s so much speed difference, I don’t know where I can safely let them pass me.”

McLaren’s chassis also had its problems. The emphasis on a compact package also caused cooling system problems. The aerodynamic performance that McLaren had focused on had resulted in a large amount of drag (air resistance), which affected the car’s maximum speed. That year, McLaren’s 9th place finish in the constructors’ championship out of 10 teams was the worst result in the company’s history.

In its second year, Honda made improvements, including a larger turbo and better reliability. The McLaren chassis also showed steady progress. Although still unable to reach the podium, Alonso and Button consistently finished in the points, reaching the top six in the championship.

In its third year, 2017, Honda introduced a new concept PU with higher potential. Instead of the previous year’s layout, in which the turbo unit was housed within the V-angle of the engine, a split system was adopted with the compressor at the front of the engine block and the turbine at the rear, connected by a long shaft. Honda also took on the challenge of a high speed combustion to increase engine output.

As a result, the amount of regenerative energy was increased and the center of gravity was lowered by centimeters, resulting in improved dynamic performance. However, the longer shaft generated vibrations that caused the MGU-H to break down frequently. Engine power did not meet expectations either. The most severe situation occurred in the third round, the Bahrain GP, where the MGU-H had trouble for three consecutive days from Day 1 through to the race. Stoffel Vandoorne, who replaced the retired Jenson Button, was unable to even start the race due to a PU hydraulic problem.

Problems persisted, and the team failed to score until the 7th round, in its worst performance to date. The trouble was not only in the PU, but also in the chassis, including the gearbox. There was also a noticeable lack of power, and McLaren began to talk about dissolving its partnership with Honda.

Honda had maintained its position of continuing its contract with McLaren while exploring the supply of PUs to other teams, resulting in a provisional contract with the Sauber F1 Team. Soon after, however, Frederic Basur, who was appointed team principal, reneged on the deal in favor of a tie-up with Ferrari.

If McLaren terminated the contract, Honda would be forced to abandon F1, as there would be no teams requiring Honda PUs.

Then, talks with Scuderia Toro Rosso surfaced. In fact, team principal Franz Tost had approached Honda unofficially to supply PUs since 2014. In 2015, the two teams’ technical staff began to exchange information. “Our engineers went to Italy and talked about matching the PU to the car body and fuel,” said Yasuhisa Arai.

“The understanding was that in due course, we would supply PUs to Red Bull Racing as well. We just wanted to win. In fact, we had very in-depth discussions with Red Bull in 2015 with their representative, Christian Horner.”

Both partnerships with Toro Rosso and Red Bull that would subsequently become real, were already in motion. At this point, however, neither agreement went ahead as “the technology to supply multiple teams was not there.”

In 2017, when Honda was in a difficult situation, Tost contacted Honda once again. After discussions that included McLaren, a partnership with Toro Rosso for the following year was decided at the last minute. At the same time, the three year-old cooperation with McLaren ended, without being able to reproduce the golden era of the past.

Around the same time as the decision to form a partnership with Toro Rosso, Honda F1 made a major organization change. Yusuke Hasegawa, who had been directing F1 activities in place of Yasuhisa Arai, stepped down, the post of general manager was abolished, and Toyoharu Tanabe, who had been involved in the second and third eras of the project as an engineer, was appointed as technical director in charge of race operations. In addition, Yasuaki Asaki, who has just assumed the post of director of the HRD Sakura, was in charge of research.

Asaki was also involved in turbo engine development in the second era, but then moved to the mass-production vehicle division, where he was responsible for development of the N series. After Honda’s return to F1, the engineers under him who developed engines for mini (kei) cars were also sent to work on F1 projects. However, Asaki could not shake the feeling that this was like watering the desert.

“If we continued, the engineers would collapse, so I told them to come back [from F1] as soon as possible. They responded, ‘We can’t leave the situation like this and go back to mass production.’ We could not ignore the negative legacy of ending up losing. I, too, had been engaged in mass production based on the confidence I gained by becoming the world’s number one in F1. If they came back feeling useless, they would really be useless engineers. I thought that would be bad for Honda.” (Asaki)

Asaki was soon approached to take charge of PU development, but he could not give a prompt answer, as he was 60 and about to retire. “I was thinking of taking it easy after retirement,” he said. “I was overwhelmed by the gap between us and Mercedes, and the difference in power output. The pressure was greater than the excitement, and [even after taking the position] I had stomach pains in the car ride to Sakura.”

Six months into his return to F1, Asaki gradually saw what was wrong with development.

“Basically, the engineers are excellent. But, they were not able to analyze themselves and respond to the problems. We had to properly analyze the technology we lacked, and then figure out how to develop the technology we needed to win.” (Asaki)

If the knowhow was not there, they would get it from whomever had it. The use of HondaJet technology was a typical example. The new concept PU could not eliminate shaft vibration and kept breaking down, so the team sought the help of the Aircraft Engine R&D Center (HGN). Aircraft jet engines also use a long shaft to connect the fan rotor to the turbine at the rear. By fully utilizing this knowhow, Honda's PU reliability was dramatically improved since teaming with Toro Rosso.

“There are people in R&D who are like scholars. They need to be used, but it is hard to work out who is researching what and where. Even if we found them, there was nothing we could do if they were not interested in racing and would not help. The point is that they feel good about helping us. That’s the way F1 is, and at first the HondaJet people said they were too busy. But then they started to watch the races with excitement, and they were happy when we won. We gradually became a team. If it’s not fun, it won’t last.” (Asaki)

In 2018, Toro Rosso Honda’s first year, the team finished 9th in the championship due to the fact that the chassis was designed for Renault PUs, and that development stalled due to the departure of Toro Rosso’s technical director mid-season. Nevertheless, Red Bull recognized the steady progress of the Honda PU, leading to us supplying the two Red Bull Group teams from the following year.

June 2019. Red Bull Honda’s Max Verstappen won a hard-fought victory in Round 9, Austria. It was the first victory in Honda’s fourth era. Standing on the podium, Verstappen pointed to the Honda logo on his chest with a big smile. The team then sent out Toyoharu Tanabe to accept the constructors’ trophy. It was the first time in his long racing career that Tanabe had been on the podium.

Tanabe recalled, “I was so overwhelmed with emotion, I could not speak. I knew everything would fall apart if I did.” Tanabe was recalling the hard times his predecessors had suffered.

“My predecessors would spend days and nights trying to get the PU to fire up, worked all night to fix it, only to have it break down immediately, and had to replace it again. They were beaten up from outside, and beaten up from within. We were in such a situation that we wondered if we could really believe in ourselves, but we kept on believing in our own technology. Thanks to all those people, I think we were able to win.” (Tanabe)

But Mercedes, which had dominated the title since 2014, remained in control. 2019 saw Red Bull Honda win three races, while Mercedes won 15. In 2020, when the start of the season was delayed by four months and more than 10 races were postponed or cancelled, including the Japanese Grand Prix, due to the spread of COVID-19, Mercedes’ dominance remained unchanged, extending its record of consecutive drivers’ and constructors’ championships to seven.

In the second half of the season, the end of Honda’s F1 participation by the end of 2021 was suddenly announced on October 2. “Honda’s goal is to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, and to do so, we will concentrate our management resources,” said then president Takahiro Hachigo.

Tanabe was involved in Honda’s second, third and fourth eras of Honda F1, and had witnessed Honda’s withdrawal in each case as well.

“It is painful to be told that a project you have put all your energy into is coming to an end. This time it is even more regrettable, especially since we have built a very good relationship with the two teams in the Red Bull family. But I will keep on fighting to win so I have no regrets.“

Following Honda’s decision to terminate its F1 activities, Asaki decided to introduce a newly designed PU for the following season, 2021. This new framework PU was scheduled to be introduced in 2021, but due to various reasons, it was decided to postpone the launch by one year. But, with the desire to “beat Mercedes in the final season,” development proceeded at a rapid pace and was completed in time for the start of the 2021 season. The Red Bull development team, which had almost finished designing the chassis for the conventional PU, was happy to change the design to match the new framework.

Asaki explained that due to changing the engine structure drastically, “The new PU is very compact and has a low center of gravity.” The combustion chamber was redesigned to improve combustion efficiency. In addition, galvanization technology from the Kumamoto Factory, which produces motorcycles, was introduced for the cylinder sleeves, and like the introduction of HondaJet technology, this was another example of Honda’s technology transcending organizational boundaries.

In 2021, Red Bull Honda and Mercedes fought fiercely throughout the season. After the penultimate 21st round in Saudi Arabia, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton both had 369.5 points in the drivers’ championship. The battle was brought to the final round in Abu Dhabi.

In the season finale, Verstappen chased Hamilton, and on the final lap passed him to win the race, marking the first time a non-Mercedes driver had won the championship in the hybrid PU era, which began in 2014. From April 2022, HRC, in charge of Honda’s motorsports activities, has provided technical support to Red Bull Powertrains, which supplies PUs to Red Bull. That year, Red Bull showed dominating strength. Verstappen won back-to-back championships and the team took the constructors’ title.

“Until 2021,we were desperate to catch up with [Mercedes] with more power, but they always got away from us. But we still managed to win the title. But in the early part of the 2022 season, according to the comparative analysis of engine power and energy regeneration, there was a feeling that ‘Mercedes had also run out of steam.’ I thought we had finally caught up.”

It took five years since returning to F1 in 2015, for Honda to win a race. In 2022, it was eight years since returning to F1 that Oracle Red Bull Racing won the Constructors’ Championship with Honda’s PU technical support, and Max Verstappen won the Drivers’ Championship. After a long period of obscurity, Honda had finally reached the pinnacle of F1.

“F1 is unforgiving,” Asaki said.

“In F1, weak teams keep on losing. I think Honda’s confidence comes from becoming the world’s No.1 in such an unforgiving environment, and has made it the company it is today. I think it is that kind of confidence that has allowed Honda to tackle seemingly reckless challenges.”

Since 1964, 60 years from its first participation in F1, its fourth era has undoubtedly been the hardest challenge. Honda repeatedly suffered humiliating defeats in the face of the overwhelming strength of the European teams, with Mercedes at the top. Even so, Honda’s belief in its own technology did not waver, and this belief became a company-wide movement, involving engineers who had no direct involvement in F1. It was a remarkable accomplishment that was made possible by the technological excellence of an all-Honda team.

Although Honda ceased its F1 participation in 2021, it is providing technical support as team partner to Oracle Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri (now Visa Cash App RB F1 Team) since 2022.

FIA has announced plans for F1 to become 100% carbon neutral from 2030. With this goal in mind, new PU technical regulations were announced in August 2022 that will apply from 2026. The focus will be on increased electrification and advanced sustainable fuels, with an increase in the electric output of MGU-K＊5, the elimination of MGU-H, and the use of 100% renewable fuels. A cost cap on entry expenses for power units will be introduced in addition to the existing cost cap for teams.

These changes will make F1 more sustainable, consistent with Honda’s carbon-neutral direction, and provide a platform to promote Honda’s electrification technologies. In turn, this will be of great significance for the development of future technologies. This is one of the main reasons for Honda to take on a new F1 challenge, which the company officially announced in May 2023.

As its new partner, Honda signed a factory team partnership agreement with the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One® Team to supply power units to. Together, they will aim to win the championship starting in 2026.