Red Bull reveal post-2021 collaboration plan with Honda beyond F1

Honda is pulling out of F1 at the end of the 2021 season but the new collaboration opens the door for Red Bull and Honda to enter other motorsport championships in addition to Red Bull’s grand prix operation. 

Red Bull says it and Honda will continue to work together “on a variety of motorsport activities, encompassing the transition of power unit development from Honda to Red Bull Powertrains, young driver development, marketing and branding initiatives, as well as competitive activity across a range of motorsport disciplines.” 

Honda has agreed to continue to support Red Bull Powertrains as it takes over the Japanese manufacturer’s power unit IP for next season, before full responsibility is handed over to Red Bull from 2023. 

Red Bull will keep using Honda’s power units until the next generation of F1 engines are introduced in 2026. 

As part of the transition period, Honda Racing Development UK staff will be transferred across to Red Bull Powertrains to assist with the manufacturing of engines for Red Bull and its sister team AlphaTauri. 

“Red Bull’s collaboration with Honda has been enormously successful and while our relationship in Formula 1 is changing, neither of us wish for that to be the end of the story,” said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner. 

“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 1 voyage is coming to an end but together we are embarking on a new and fascinating journey.”

The two companies say they will create a “joint presence in various forms of motorsport, in other sports and wider activities” to expand their reach on a global scale and help Honda meet its aim of achieving carbon neutrality.

Red Bull and Honda will also continue to work together on their respective young driver programmes that helped bring Japanese racer Yuki Tsunoda up the junior single-seater ranks and into F1 with AlphaTauri. 

Honda says its “four-wheeled motorsport activities will now come under the umbrella of Honda Racing Corporation” to strengthen Honda’s motorsport operation and branding. 

“Specifically, HRC will support the Red Bull Group’s Formula 1 activity in 2022, taking charge of all the above-mentioned points,” it added.