Honda-powered red bull RB16B won the 2021 F1 World Championship marking an end to the eight-year wait.
Red bull joined hands with Honda in 2019 marking an end to a rather struggling partnership with Renault. The Honda engines had already spent a year with AlphaTauri cars before being fitted into Red bull’s cars.
Honda was struggling with McLaren before joining hands with Red bull. The Honda power units propelled the team to win the 2021 World title and were a major reason for the success of Red bull powertrains last year. However, the Japanese manufacturer abruptly dropped out of the sport after its success in 2021.
Although Honda has taken part in the 2026 reset, the signing only looks for involvement in finalizing the regulations. This doesn’t yet indicate an immediate return to the sport.
A major reason for Honda-McLaren’s failure was the “size-zero” design requirement by McLaren. Horner has now revealed that the Milton Keynes-based squad was ready to make some compromises for the Japanese manufacturer:
“I think the team felt that after the years of difficulties, we’d been through. We suddenly had a very willing partner that was prepared to do whatever they could to extract the most performance they could – and everything was focused on performance.”
“We could see that commitment, that desire and the fact that it meant so much to every member of the Honda team.”
“Honda is very much passion drive company within the racing department. And you could see that through Sakura and their design and operational team.”
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