Over the course of Formula One’s grand 65 year history numerous manufacturers have been and gone after numerous visits to the grid over the years—BMW, Mercedes and Ford have all come and gone over the years, but Honda in particular have dipped in and out of the sport with, generally speaking, plenty of success.
Honda’s love affair with Formula One began in 1964 only four years after they began as a car company. The RA271 began development in 1962 and when it arrived in the paddock in 1964, Honda caught everyone’s attention by being one of the only teams to create their own chassis and engine together; only BRM and Ferrari were doing this at the time.
Only a year after their first F1 venture they got their first win with American driver Richie Ginther; the RA272 helped him to victory in the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. New rules in 1966 came in with regards to engine capacity. Honda built the RA273 with a V12, but it turned out to be horribly unreliable.
Honda returned to the top step of the podium in 1967 with John Surtees at the wheel and in only its first race the RA300 was a success, winning the Italian Grand Prix. The chassis was partly developed by Lola and was given the nickname ‘Hondola’. The year after, only two podiums came their way and in the 1968 French Grand Prix Jo Schlesser was driving the new RA302, but after only a handful of laps he had a massive crash and lost his life, prompting Honda to leave Formula One after the 1968 season.
Honda returned to Formula One in 1983 with the Spirit team, but only lasted the solitary year, then travelled to Williams from 1984-1987, providing Nigel Mansell his first win at the European Grand Prix in 1985. Mansell looked on course to win the 1986 Championship but the infamous tyre blowout in Adelaide saw him finish runner-up in the championship and Alain Prost took his second consecutive title.
1987 saw Mansell looking to win that elusive title, but at Suzuka he had a huge accident in qualifying and as the car landed he hurt his spine, putting him out of the race and title contention, his team-mate Nelson Piquet picking up the title that year. Honda was truly on form, providing a powerful engine, but in a shock move they pulled out of Williams at the end of 1987 and followed Ayrton Senna to McLaren.
1988 saw Honda power McLaren to fifteen out of sixteen wins and Senna to his first world title. During Honda’s time at McLaren between 1988 and 1992, they won four out of the five drivers titles, while during their tenure in the 1980s, Honda powered six consecutive Constructors’ championships: Williams in 1986 and 1987; then McLaren between 1988 and 1991. Honda pulled out of Formula One at the end of 1992.
Honda still provided engines in Formula One from 1993-1999 but only through their tuning company Mugen. This yielded little success, but in 1998 and a very rain soaked Belgian Grand Prix they led Jordan to their first victory with Damon Hill, and Ralf Schumacher finishing second made it all the more sweeter. In 1999 Heinz-Harald Frentzen joined the team, swapping with the younger Schumacher at Williams. Frentzen won two races in 1999, but with McLaren and Ferrari outperforming the Jordan, it left them third in the Constructors’ title race.
Before 2000 Honda seriously considered becoming a constructor once more in Formula One—in 1998 they hired famous designer Harvey Postlethwaite to be Technical Director; they hired Kyle Petryshen from HRC to help with the design. Dallara built the car for them in 1999 which was tested by Jos Verstappen and performed well. Unfortunately at one of the tests, Harvey suffered a fatal heart attack and with this they decided to pull the project and remain solely as an engine supplier.
In 2000, Honda returned to Formula One again, powering BAR and Jordan. Despite Jordan performing better over the years, Honda pulled out of Jordan and powered BAR; eventually they bought a 45% stake in BAR from the British American Tobacco sponsor in 2004.
In September 2005 Honda bought the rest of the 55% of BAR and became sole owner of the team. In 2006 Honda was a full factory team once more and slowly pulled themselves up the grid, eventually taking them to their sole victory in the modern era as a works team at the rain affected Hungarian Grand Prix, with Jenson Button finally scoring his maiden win in F1.
In 2007 Honda, with Tobacco sponsorship in severe decline, pulled out the eye-opening ‘earthdreams’ livery. This received some very mixed feedback, but that was not the shock of the season as after a promising 2006, they plummeted towards the back of the pack in 2007. While they found the aero issues with the car, they hired new designers and aerodynamicists and in late 2007 Ross Brawn was drafted in to help rebuild the team.
With Brawn’s arrival he scrapped 2008 and immediately prepared for 2009 and its new aerodynamic rules, but in the winter of 2008 Honda withdrew from the sport once more with the financial collapse happening around the world. This left the team in turmoil, but Ross Brawn banded together with Nick Fry and bought the team. Honda did provide some of the funding in 2009.
With Brawn GP winning both titles that year, I always did wonder as to whether the Honda board kicked themselves about pulling out of the sport then seeing their labours breed such success as they did.
In 2013, Honda announced a renewed partnership with McLaren as a partner and engine supplier starting in 2015. Looking back at Honda’s success in its rich history within Formula One, I do not doubt that they will be quickly up to speed and fighting for the top spot of the podium once more.
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