Electric road car shift complicating Honda's post-2021 F1 future
Honda is talking to Red Bull about expanding its existence with Formula 1 beyond 2021, but its position is complicated by financial pressure related to electrification on its road car operation.
Clampdowns on the number and type of petrol regulatory. Diesel cars that they can sell are changing the business conditions facing global automakers.
Legislation requires them to switch to electric cars where the investment requires much larger. And profit margins much lower.
The situation further complicated by governments around the world trying to outlaw the sale by 2040 at the latest new cars for petrol, diesel and hybrid engines.
Honda officially committed to F1 only until the end of next year. Following a single season extension of its contract with Red Bull and AlphaTauri.
It has admitted that the main issue surrounding its future is not the results it achieves in F1. But how broader problems affect its finances for the global car market.
We are consulting with Red Bull about the future after 2021, Masashi Yamamoto, Honda’s F1 managing director. This told by Autosport.
But the other thing we have to consider that because of electrification the entire car industry faced with a very difficult situation.
Many businesses have a lot to invest in. So, we have to think about the business side and how efficient we can run the program. That’s what it is about.
Yamamoto’s comments on the impact of regulatory restrictions come weeks after Alain Prost. A non-executive board member of Renault voiced concerns over government restrictions on what road car companies might do.
We don’t even know what technology we will have in the automobile industry in the next 10 years, he said.
There’s a lot of dumb regulation happening. We are going to kill the European automobile industry.
It’s absolutely dumb.
While the imposed shift to electric cars could make Formula E more appealing in the short term for automakers like Honda. Yamamoto said that F1 remained a target for Honda.