Honda and Red Bull Group say they have agreed on a program of cooperation focused on a variety of motorsport activities, including Formula 1, young driver development and other forms of motorsport, beyond the marque’s withdrawal from F1 at the end of this year.
On the specific matter of the Honda Formula 1 power unit, Red Bull Powertrains will have the right to use Honda IP from 2022, as a support for their F1 programs with Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri teams. Honda says it will also continue to provide technical support through 2022, including trackside operations as well as manufacturing. Notably, current employees of Honda Racing Developments, located in Milton Keynes, UK, will become employees of Red Bull Powertrains.
Furthermore, Red Bull and Honda state they will continue to work together on their respective young driver programs, the Red Bull Junior Team and Honda Formula Dream Project, to further promote the growth of motorsport in Japan, with the ultimate goal of getting more Japanese drivers into top-line global motorsport.
There will also be additional cooperation between the two companies dealing with various forms of motorsport and indeed other sports and marketing activities.
In an operational change, all four-wheeled motorsport activities will now come under the umbrella of HRC (Honda Racing Corporation), the company that has successfully run Honda’s motorcycle racing activities for many years. This, says Honda, is to strengthen its motorsport operation and branding, making it more efficient when integrating the technologies and experiences gained from both four-wheel and motorcycle motorsport activities. Specifically, HRC will support the Red Bull Group’s Formula 1 activity in 2022.
