Red Bull and Honda have revealed that they will continue to work together in motorsport activities next year, with Honda, which is pulling out of F1, offering support to Red Bull’s new powertrains department as well as collaborating on a young driver programme and marketing initiatives with the Austrian team.
Honda has supplied Red Bull with engines since 2019 but announced last year that it will leave Formula One at the end of 2021 to focus its R&D resources on electric mobility.
Red Bull had already agreed to use the IP for Honda’s power units beyond 2021 and take over the production and development of the engine at a new facility in Milton Keynes known as Red Bull Powertrains.
However, Honda has now revealed that as part of an ongoing partnership with the team it will continue to support Red Bull with the assembly of power units, the provision of trackside engineering support and race operation assistance in 2022 and from 2023. In addition, some employees working at Honda Racing Development UK will move to work for Red Bull Powertrains.
The two companies also announced a collaboration between their young driver progammes with the aim of fostering more Japanese talent in single seater racing, following the promotion of Yuki Tsunoda to Red Bull’s junior team AlphaTauri this year.
“I’m glad that we have reached an agreement with Red Bull Group covering all the details of the IP rights for the F1 Power Unit and in this way, Honda can still contribute to the motor racing world,” Koji Watanabe, Chief Officer for Brand and Communication Operations, Honda Motor Co. said. “We are now working hard to strengthen HRC’s structure, so that it can ensure our fans will be able to continue to enjoy Honda’s role in all types of motorsport.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner added: “Red Bull’s collaboration with Honda has been enormously successful and while our relationship in Formula One is changing, neither of us wish for that to be the end of the story. We are very pleased that our ambitious and exciting Red Bull Powertrains project will be strongly supported by Honda, technically and operationally, in 2022 and this will help ensure that Red Bull’s transition to the status of chassis and power unit manufacturer is seamless.
“Equally as exciting is the news that our collaboration with Honda will extend to a variety of motorsport activities, from driver development to other racing disciplines and even across the wider sporting world. This stretch of Honda’s Formula One voyage is coming to an end but together we are embarking on a new and fascinating journey.”