Honda is setting up a new base in the United Kingdom for its Formula 1 engine supply operation.
The Japanese manufacturer provides power unit services to Red Bull. The world champions’ Red Bull Powertrains Honda (RPBT) units are based on those produced by Honda until it withdrew as a manufacturer at the end of 2021.
Honda will return to F1 as a manufacturer in 2026, when F1 introduces new power unit regulations, supplying motors to Aston Martin. Its new UK base will be used to support its future team.
The new company will be responsible for maintaining and servicing its power units between races and preparing them for upcoming events. The business will also have a public relations operation.
It has been founded as Honda Racing Corporation UK Limited. Its directors are Honda president Koji Watanabe and Honda Motor Europe executive vice president Ian Howells.
Honda will continue to design and manufacture its power units in Sakura, Japan. It will begin recruiting staff to its new UK operation this spring.
Red Bull will continue to use RBPTH power units until the end of next year. From 2026 it will use new power units developed jointly between it and Ford at its new Red Bull Powertrains division in Milton Keynes.
Honda’s tie-up with Aston Martin will be its fourth stint as a Formula 1 engine manufacturers. It originally competed in F1 in the sixties as a full works effort, winning two grands prix before withdrawing.
It enjoyed enormous success when it returned as an engine supplier in the eighties, winning world championships with Williams and McLaren before withdrawing again after 1992. Honda was lured back a third time after the turn of the millennium, first as an engine supplier and then a works team, before leaving again after 2008.
Its latest return, the year after the current V6 hybrid turbo regulations were introduced, was not an immediate success, as it suffered a series of poor years with McLaren. But it found success through its tie-up with Red Bull, powering Max Verstappen to the 2021 drivers’ title, and the team has continued to use its rebranded engines to dominate F1 since.
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