Honda has been in and out of Formula 1 several times over the past 60 years, depending on Business conditions. “Business is sometimes good and sometimes bad,” Honda global chief executive Mibe Toshihiro Mibe told reporters, including the Observer, at a roundtable in Mexico City last week ahead of the F1 World Championship Grand Prix. “So, sometimes we give up. [racing] Focus on the core business,” he said through a translator.
Honda will return to F1 as an independent team in 2026 next year as F1’s popularity continues to grow around the world and the Japanese auto giant caters to changing consumer demand for electric, hybrid and internal combustion engine vehicles. As F1 grows in popularity around the world as the world’s most elite and expensive racing series, Honda’s comeback is about more than just competing for podiums. At a time when both automakers and consumers are redefining innovation, this is a carefully thought-out business move designed to blend performance, electrification and brand relevance.
Honda’s approach to racing has always been centered around building brand recognition. The company began its journey in motorcycle racing in the 1960s, when founder Soichiro Honda believed that entering F1 was the only way for the small Japanese automaker to be taken seriously on the global stage. At the time, Honda was just starting to build cars, let alone the powerful machines needed for F1.
Honda won the first F1 race in 1965 with the RA272, and the car was brought back to Mexico City last week to mark the 60th anniversary of that victory. On October 26, Red Bull driver Yuki Tsunoda accepted the challenge of driving this vintage F1 car around the 2.5-mile track in Mexico before the race. Even though the car stalled twice and had to roll out of the pits, it was still an amazing sight.
In the 1980s, Honda established Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) to focus on motorcycle racing and prove its engineering prowess. Its racing technology eventually trickled down to the consumer bike world. Mibe said HRC would absorb Honda’s four-wheel racing programs, including IndyCar and F1, in 2022 to “provide some stability” for racing and investment.
Honda will officially withdraw from F1 after the 2021 season to focus on the development of electric vehicles. But the company is now preparing for a full-scale return in 2026 as the power unit supplier to the Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 team.
“The reason we decided to do F1 is because our business is concentrated in North America, and F1 is taking off because of Netflix,” Mibe said. “With the new homogeneity, and the strong relationship we have between F1 and the United States, we can leverage that into our business.”
Honda’s largest market is the United States, with about 9% of the automotive market share. This week, American Honda reported strong sales in October, with total U.S. deliveries up 3.6% year-over-year. Growth is driven by demand for internal combustion vehicles, including the Accord and Passport, as well as electric models, such as the popular CR-V hybrid. Notably, Honda sold a record 30,471 electric vehicles in October.
The track is a sandbox for new technologies
Racing has always been a proving ground for automakers to push the limits of technology. Known for its blazing speeds, high thermal loads and extreme engineering precision, F1 is the ideal environment to test advances in everything from batteries to engines.
The demands of F1 – extreme acceleration, brutal temperatures and ultra-efficient energy recovery – push performance, packaging and durability to levels well beyond the consumer experience. However, many of these lessons eventually found their way into everyday vehicles.
HRC Racing Division general manager Ikuo Takeishi said Honda’s decision to return to F1 was partly due to upcoming regulatory changes. From 2026, all F1 power units must be 50% electric, 50% combustion and powered by sustainable fuels. This balance is consistent with Honda’s long-standing focus on hybrid and battery technology. At the same time, it underscores Honda’s continued reliance on internal combustion engine technology, like many major automakers, amid headwinds facing electric vehicles and changing consumer preferences.
“The technology we use in F1 will not directly appear in consumer cars,” Takeishi said. “But much of what we learn on the track can be transferred to consumer cars,” he added, citing advances in battery technology and improvements in the efficiency of high-power magnets.
