Nurburgring, 1964 German Grand PrixThe sixth round of the world championship was held on the legendary Nordschleife, where a 100% Japanese team entered the scene, both for the construction of the chassis and the engine: the Honda. A team that, in that race and in the two subsequent tests in which it took part with the American Ronnie Bucknum at the wheel, failed to prove particularly competitive, contrary to what it managed to do in the following seasons. Already in 1965in fact, the team founded by Soichiro Honda achieved the first of its three total victories with Richie Ginther in Mexico and John Surtees in 1967, before returning to the top step of the podium in 2006 with Jenson Button after a long absence from F1 as a constructor that had lasted since 1969.
A short and fascinating history in F1, always as a constructor, but never as triumphant as the one that saw the Japanese company as a protagonist in the top series as an engine manufacturer, especially in the 80s. It was precisely in this period, after the aforementioned withdrawal at the end of 1968, that Honda decided to return to the Circus exclusively as an engine manufacturer, initially supplying its engines to a small team like Spirit in 1983. A potential that was however sensed by top British teams, starting with Williamswho won the bet.
The Grove team, after having achieved several victories in the first half of the 80s, managed to return to the roll of honour both in the world championship Builders than in the Pilots one, more specifically with Nelson Piquet in 1987, the same year Honda began supplying its engines to the Lotusbut for only two years. The real story, however, came from the 1988the season in which the duo made their debut with the McLarenwhich immediately became the team to beat with two drivers who also gave birth to a legendary rivalry: Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. It was they, in fact, who dominated the world championship scene in 1988 and 1989, with the two following world championships in which McLaren-Honda was led to triumph by Senna alone, thanks to the transfer of the ‘Professor’ to Ferrari. However, with the resurgence of Williams and the potential of Renault engines in 1992, that season was also Honda’s last in Formula 1 of the 1990s, when it matured a second retirement from the top flight.
In fact, during the rest of the decade, Honda remained in F1 as an engine supplier, but with engines prepared by Mugen and with four total victories, three of which were won by Jordan. To see Honda’s full comeback we had to wait until 2000 with the opening of a new parenthesis with the BARa team that was then taken over by the Japanese manufacturer in 2006. It was in that world championship that Honda obtained its last victory as a constructor with Jenson Button, before finally exiting the scene in 2008 following the sale of the team to Ross Brown. A retirement that also occurred once again as an engine supplier, at least until the disappointing return in 2015 with McLaren, with which he obtained results that were totally different from those of the late 80s. A recovery that occurred gradually until 2019, thanks to the partnership reached with Red Bull and the subsequent celebration of Max Verstappen’s Drivers’ World Championship obtained by the Dutchman in 2021. A championship, that, which was also Honda’s last before the start of a collaboration with Red Bull Powertrains, all while waiting for the new return of the Minato house expected in 2026when he will begin another chapter as an engine manufacturer with Aston Martin. In the meantime, 60 years after his first race in F1, the Japanese manufacturer wanted to pay homage to his history in F1 with a special web page on its website.
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