HONDA The Power of Dreams

I have known Honda since I was working in Japan, and I still have many acquaintances there. Of course, when I heard that they were returning to F1 in 2015, I wanted our team to use Honda’s power units (PUs), so I contacted them. After communicating with Honda, however, I honestly felt that they were not ready. Still, I hoped that things would work out, but it was difficult. In 2015, we held meetings with them every four or five races to exchange opinions, and we were working toward securing a contract if the PU updates went well. However, the situation did not improve in 2016 or 2017.

Around that time, Honda approached us with a proposal. I believe it was around the time of the 2017 Belgian Grand Prix. They asked us if we were interested in Honda, as it was having significant issues with McLaren. I told them we would consider it, and immediately held a meeting with Helmut Marko, Red Bull Motorsport Advisor, and Masashi Yamamoto, then Honda’s Motorsport Division Manager, and flew to Japan to meet Honda’s headquarters. I strongly advised Honda that if they continued their F1 activities, they would definitely succeed. We quickly investigated what was happening between Honda and McLaren, and discovered that sufficient technical feedback was not being provided from the McLaren side. After visiting the HRD Sakura factory, I was confident that if we provide sufficient feedback and work together with Honda, we would definitely succeed. Honda had the financial strength and resources to make it happen. I spoke with Takahiro Hachigo, Honda’s President, saying, “If we proceed with a strong development program together, we will definitely find a way forward.”

Ahead of the 2018 contract, I made three presentations to Honda. The first was to have a Japanese driver compete in F1. This was realized when Naoki Yamamoto drove in FP1 at the 2019 Japanese Grand Prix. The second was to win a Grand Prix together with Toro Rosso. This was also achieved at the 2020 Italian Grand Prix. And the third was that if we could improve the performance of the PU, we would be able to form a partnership with Red Bull Racing in the future and aim for the championship. However, this was something that I could not achieve on my own. Hachigo told me he wanted to achieve this with Toro Rosso, but I replied, “I'm sorry, but we don’t have the capability to do that. Toro Rosso is a team focused on developing young talent, and we don’t have the infrastructure to consistently win Grand Prix races and aim for the championship.” I recommended a partnership with Red Bull Racing, as they had the best minds in F1 at the time.

As a result of these discussions, 2018 became a season dedicated to making updates to gain Red Bull’s recognition. From the end of 2017, we stationed engineers at HRD Sakura to provide feedback on the deployment concepts, car compatibility, and other elements necessary for the PU. Honda’s performance after that was truly remarkable. With each power unit update, they improved performance, and in the second race of the 2018 season, Bahrain, Pierre Gasly qualified in sixth place and finished the race in fourth position. In 2020, under the new AlphaTauri team, we were able to share the joy of a GP win with Honda. It was truly remarkable progress.

I retired from F1 at the end of the 2023 season, but the time I spent competing alongside Honda was truly special. Especially as a team, being able to use a factory power unit for the first time was truly moving. With the customer engines we had previously used, it was unthinkable that our engineers’ opinions would be reflected in the PU. In contrast, Honda listened to our opinions, and I believe this partnership was a huge motivation for the team. Even now, as a retired driver, I watch every race from practice to the race, and I often feel the urge to ask the team how they could have improved in races that didn’t go well. I miss all the Honda staff and the entire team so much. While traveling around the world is no longer feasible at my age, I would reunite with everyone in a heartbeat if I could!