“Whether then Honda will come back, I don’t know” – AlphaTauri team principal Franz Tost feels some people in the Honda hierarchy would like to continue in Formula 1.
Honda is set to leave Formula 1 at the end of this season, calling it quits to an impressive partnership with the Red Bull family.
The Japanese automobile giants will continue to support Red Bull and AlphaTauri, via the newly-formed Red Bull Powertrain Technology Group.
But AlphaTauri boss Franz Tost believes Honda might have even decided to not leave in the first place, and expects them to return to the sport.
“I can’t talk in the name of the management and of the board from Honda.
“But, as you know, the great manufacturers, there are some people, some managers who were happy to do Formula 1 and others that think the company should go in another direction.
“Honda has decided to go out from Formula 1 and nevertheless there is a close cooperation with Honda and Red Bull Technology in the future.
“Whether then Honda will come back, I don’t know. Currently, they have decided to stop at the end of this year and will provide us and Red Bull Racing with engines in 2022 and from 2023 the engines will be designed and built by Red Bull Powertrain Technology Group and the rest we will see.”
Will Honda return to Formula 1?
Honda managing director Masashi Yamamoto has the answer to this million-dollar question. He personally believes they will return to F1, but only after they make significant progress in the ‘carbon-neutral’ project.
I personally think yes, we are going to be back.
“Now it’s a situation where Honda has to concentrate on the carbon-neutral and we have to accelerate the project.
“But once it’s going well, I think there will be people who want to do F1 inside the company.”
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