Honda announced in October 2020 that the following season would be its last in Formula 1, meaning that it would stop supplying power units to Red Bull and AlphaTauri at the end of 2021.
Although Honda helped Red Bull win the drivers’ world title from Max Verstappen, they will no longer be in the top flight, and Japanese Formula 1 director Masashi Yamamoto has stated that the development of the Austrian team’s next engines “It will be fully controlled by Red Bull according to their requests.”
The Japanese began this new journey in the Great Circus in 2015 , thanks to their union with McLaren, however, that relationship only lasted three campaigns, since those from Woking decided to do without them due to the very poor results.
In the early years, Honda suffered from problems in the development of the MGU-H and in adapting the engine to the specific needs of the McLaren single-seater design, in addition to poor communication between the two parties.
The Brits opted to say goodbye to Honda and try their luck with Renault in 2018 , while the Japanese teamed up with Red Bull’s sister team Toro Rosso to prepare for the jump with the top outfit the following year.
Fernando Alonso, who lived in his own skin all the problems of the Honda power units with McLaren, was not a great admirer of the work of the Japanese, he even went so far as to say that it was “a GP2 engine” (a category lower than the F1) during the 2015 Japanese Grand Prix.
But now that Honda has left the sport, the two-time champion said he was happy to see the manufacturer win, and sad to see them go: “When they left McLaren, I don’t think they were in a moment where they were thinking about winning the Formula 1 title.”
“They did a very good job, they appointed the right people,” the Spaniard told Motorsport.com when asked about Honda. “I think they changed the management and introduced a new philosophy, they did a good job and I’m really happy for them. Also sad that they’re leaving now, but I hope they come back.”
Alonso said that despite the disagreements that caused the split between McLaren and Honda , the Spaniard maintains a good relationship with Yamamoto. The Alpine driver revealed that he went to see the Japanese after they managed to win the title with Verstappen in Abu Dhabi.
“I was talking to Yamamoto in the final 3 or 4 grands prix, because I have a very good connection with him,” Alonso said. “He was the person who allowed me to try a MotoGP bike, and we continue to have a good relationship. He was the first person I congratulated after Max at the parc fermé, so I’m very happy for him.”
