Honda’s spirit of taking on new challenges without fear of failure
Honda has a long history of taking on challenges in the areas of motorcycle and automobile motorsports. At the heart of these efforts is Honda’s spirit of taking on new challenges without fear of failure, a philosophy that the company has followed since it was founded. The belief is that allowing and then reflecting on failures leads to progress. While not doing something means not failing, it also means not creating anything either. Honda has applied this approach to its motorsports challenge, and has created new technologies during the process.
Taking on challenges in motorsports is in the DNA of Honda. It is a place of intense competition between technologies, and a place where human resources can be developed. Honda actively assigns its young technicians to the development of motorsports technologies, and it aims to win whenever it participates.
On May 16, 2013, ahead of new power unit regulations being adopted in 2014, Honda announced its decision to participate in Formula 1 from 2015 as a power unit supplier. It cited the adoption of these regulations, which make it worthwhile to take on challenges without fear of failure, as its reason for relaunching F1 participation after its withdrawal at the end of the 2008 season.
The regulations adopted in 2014 made it compulsory to use power units that incorporate two energy recovery systems—kinetic energy recovery and heat energy recovery—on 1.6-liter V6 direct-injection single-turbo engines. The kinetic energy recovery system includes an MGU-K (Motor Generator Unit - Kinetic), with maximum output of 120 kW, that converts kinetic energy generated from the car when driving into electrical energy for storage in a battery marked with the ES symbol (Energy Store) required by the regulations. This system is similar to those used on mass-produced hybrid cars.
The heat energy recovery system includes an MGU-H (Motor Generator Unit - Heat) coaxially arranged with the turbocharger to convert heat energy from the exhaust gas into electrical energy.
Until 2013, development of 2.4-liter V8 naturally aspirated engines mainly focused on increasing output by feeding large amounts of air to the cylinders and injecting corresponding levels of fuel. However, the power unit regulations adopted in 2014 restricted maximum fuel flow to 100 kg/h, making it impossible to just continue increasing fuel injection indefinitely. The challenge then became how to most efficiently convert the limited energy available in fuel into engine output.
In other words, improving thermal efficiency of engines became an important focus of development, bringing it into line with the development goals of mass-produced engines. As a result, technologies fine-tuned through F1 will contribute to technology development of mass-produced engines as well. As an example, a power unit developed in 2016, with MGU-K assist, was able to generate output approximately 300 kW higher than a 2008 engine. Even so, fuel consumption at maximum output was only two-thirds that of the 2008 engine, so extremely high fuel efficiency was achieved at the same time.
Energy management is another important development point associated with the regulations adopted in 2014. They stipulate that a maximum of 4 MJ of energy per lap can be used from the ES for MGU-K assist. At a maximum output of 120 kW, this represents approximately 33.3 seconds of assist per lap. On the other hand, the maximum amount of energy that the MGU-K is allowed to send to the ES for storage is 2 MJ per lap. This means that the MGU-K alone is unable to store the 4 MJ of energy used during maximum assist, so the MGU-H makes up the shortfall.
While the amount of energy that the MGU-K can store in or use from the ES is regulated, there is no regulation on the amount of energy transferred between the MGU-H and ES. This makes improving use of the MGU-H an important focus of development. Alongside increasing engine efficiency, these electrical component development and management technologies align with Honda’s development approach to electrification of its mass-produced cars. Just like with engines, expectations are that motorsports technologies in this area will also be transferred to mass production.
From its first power unit in the F1 in 2015, Honda has continually worked to improve the reliability and durability of its power units. At the same time, it has also improved power unit efficiency, from the engine itself to the MGU-K, MGU-H, ES, and other components, as it has refined its energy management systems. As a result, it has become an extremely competitive player in terms of both engine output and energy management.
After supplying power units to McLaren until 2018, Honda switched from 2019 to supplying Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso (rebranded to AlphaTauri in 2020 and to Visa Cash App RB in 2024), although Honda itself stopped being the power unit supplier at the end of the 2021 season. From 2022, it continued its relationship with F1 under a new collaborative structure providing power unit assembly support, and race operations support at circuits and in Japan. From 2023, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) took over responsibility for racing operations from Honda.
Naturally, speed and power in qualifying rounds and races depend on vehicle-side technologies like aerodynamics, the actual skills of the drivers, and strategies and tactics employed by the teams, but the fact is that the contributions from the power units themselves are also significant. In Honda’s fifth year back at racing, it won its first race in 2019 and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen went on to claim the drivers’ title in 2021. In both 2022 and 2023, the power units developed by Honda helped Red Bull win the drivers’ and constructors’ championship titles. The overwhelming strength of Red Bull saw it win the season in 2023 with 21 wins from 22 races.
Toward 2026
On May 24, 2023, Honda agreed to participate in F1 from 2026 and to enter into a works partnership with the Aston Martin F1 team to supply power units compliant with new regulations that will take effect from 2026.
Having committed to being carbon neutral from 2030, F1 will require participants to use 100% carbon neutral fuel (CNF) from 2026. It will also significantly expand the electrification rate. As of 2024, it allows 83% of maximum output generated by the power unit to come from the engine, with the remaining 17% coming from the motor (MGU-K), but the 2026 regulations will require 50% of output from the engine and 50% from the motor.
Specifically, this means lowering the cap on fuel flow and otherwise reducing engine output while dramatically increasing output from the MGU-K to 350 kW, or roughly three times its current output. At the same time, the configuration will be simplified to eliminate the MGU-H. These changes in regulations are consistent with the direction Honda has been taking toward the realization of carbon neutrality, giving profound significance to the development of future technologies to realize these goals. Therefore, Honda made the decision to take on a new challenge in F1 racing.
In general, CNF tends to be more difficult to vaporize than traditional fuels, so it is important to collaborate with fuel manufacturers to try and develop fuels that more readily vaporize. On the other hand, there is also a need to develop engines that facilitate combustion of fuels that are difficult to vaporize. On the hardware side, large output MGU-Ks change a car’s vibration profile, so it is essential to ensure reliability to withstand the change. With the larger amounts of energy repeatedly stored in the ES and then used, development needs to focus on minimizing degradation of performance. With elimination of the MGU-H, highly efficient and effective energy management systems must also be developed when relying on the MGU-K alone.
With power unit development being frozen from 2022, development is now limited to reliability improvements. Under these conditions, Honda is contributing to improved performance for the teams it supplies by raising the limits of its power units and maximizing their potential while maintaining reliability. Concurrently with these activities, it is quietly developing a new power unit for launch in 2026.
