Honda extends Red Bull and Toro Rosso engine deal for 2021 Formula 1 season

Motorsport News

Honda has committed to Formula 1 in 2021, supplying engines to Red Bull and Toro Rosso in the first year of the sport’s new regulations

Max Verstappen points at his Honda badge after winning the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix

Photo: Motorsport Images

Honda will be a part of Formula 1 in 2021 after the Japanese manufacturer confirmed its current deal with Red Bull and Toro Rosso has been extended by a further year.

It comes after rumours suggestions that Honda could leave Formula 1 after rising costs and spending.

While performance levels have risen since returning to F1 with McLaren back in 2015, Honda’s commitment to the sport beyond 2020 was not a foregone conclusion.

Reports suggest that the board at Honda are not wholly convinced that Formula 1 is worth the current expenditure laid out for its programme as power unit provider.

Suggestions were also levelled that hybrid technology is not an enticing R&D opportunity versus electric technology for the Japanese company.

In a post on social media, the new deal was confirmed to be a one-year extension of its current deal with Red Bull and Toro Rosso.

Max Verstappen’s victory in Brazil and Pierre Gasly’s out-dragging of Lewis Hamilton’s works Mercedes for second place at Interlagos gave Honda its first double podium since the 1991 Japanese Grand Prix.

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