Honda and Oracle Red Bull Racing have announced their technical partnership will continue until the end of the 2025 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season.
Initially the deal was to run until the end of 2023 but has been extended by two more years until the end of the current engine cycle, with Honda giving technical assistance to Red Bull Powertrains, which was born following the decision by Honda to leave Formula 1 as an official engine manufacturer at the end of 2021.
The Red Bull/Honda relationship worked well together last year to take Max Verstappen to his maiden World Drivers’ Championship, while the first year of the technical alliance between them sees the Dutchman on top of the standings again heading into the summer break whilst the team is also leading the Constructors’ battle.
Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner has welcomed the announcement, and he hopes the success the two parties have enjoyed in recent years can continue through the next three years.
“Red Bull’s partnership with Honda has been an incredibly successful one and we are pleased that this will continue until the end of the current era of the FIA’s power unit regulations in 2025,” said Horner.
Horner’s thoughts have been echoed by Dr. Helmut Marko, Red Bull’s Motorsport Advisor, with the Austrian thanking those within the Japanese manufacturer for their commitment to the programme.
“We thank Honda for their positive response to working together,” said Marko. “We are excited to continue our partnership in F1 until the end of 2025 with the PU supplied by Honda.
“We have had a successful relationship so far, winning the Drivers’ championship in 2021 and currently leading the Drivers’ and Teams’ classifications, with the aim of securing both 2022 titles.”
Koji Watanabe, the Head of Corporate Communications Supervisory Unit, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. and President of Honda Racing Corporation, says it was more than willing to accept Red Bull’s request to continue their technical partnership until the end of the current engine cycle in 2025.
“We have agreed to continue supporting Red Bull Power Trains in Formula 1 through HRC, following Red Bull’s request to extend our current agreement, which HRC can meet within its existing resources,” said Watanabe.
“Once again, we aim to use our involvement in the pinnacle of motorsport for the development of technologies and of our workforce.”
