Honda celebrates Formula 1 participation with new motorsports website, RA271 exhibit, RA272 demo run

MANILA: Honda Motor Company is celebrating 60 years since it first stepped into the world of Formula 1.

To commemorate the said occasion, Honda has launched a new motorsports website that showcases a comprehensive overview of Honda motorsports, its history as well as information on current and future activities and events.

For 2024 and 2025, Honda is focusing on Formula 1-related content as the Japanese marque honors the 60th anniversary of its first participation in Formula 1 as well as its first win in the racing series, deemed by many as the pinnacle of motor racing.

The website features rare video footage — such as footage from the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix digitized from film — as well as videos and reports from the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024, a motorsports event held in the United Kingdom (UK) last month.

You can check out the website, here.

Honda is also exhibiting the RA271 — the machine with which the carmaker made its Formula 1 debut in 1964. Until August 20, the said race car will remain on display at the Welcome Plaza in Tokyo.

The RA271 is powered by a 1500 cubic centimeter V12 engine (the most powerful of all Grand Prix engines at the time), which generated 220 horsepower. It competed in three Grand Prix races in 1964, in Germany, the United States, and Italy.

A demonstration run of the RA272 — which brought about the first Formula 1 race win for Honda — will take place on August 17, at the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion.

The RA272 to be used in this demonstration run is the actual machine Paul Richard Ginther drove to take Honda’s first Formula 1 Grand Prix victory in the Mexican Grand Prix in 1965. The machine has been preserved in driving condition at Honda Collection Hall in Tochigi, Japan.

Prior to this, current Formula 1 driver Yuki Tsunoda took the RA272 for a demonstration run at the Goodwood Festival of Speed 2024, a motorsports event held last month in the UK.

Below is a quick glimpse of Honda’s achievements in Formula 1:

• 1964-1968: Participated as an all-Honda team, independently developing both the engine and chassis
• 1965: Captured the first Honda Formula 1 victory in the Mexican Gran Prix

• 1983-1992: Participated as a Formula 1 engine supplier
• 1986: Won the Formula 1 Constructors’ Championship as Williams Honda
• 1987: Won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles
• 1988-1991: Won both the Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles for four consecutive years as McLaren Honda

• 2000-2005: Participated with an engine supply and joint chassis development contract with British American Racing
• 2006-2008: Participated as an all-Honda team, independently developing both the engine and chassis
• 2015-2017: Participated as a Formula 1 power unit supplier, supplying power units to McLaren
• 2018: Began supplying power units to Scuderia Toro Rosso
• 2019: Began supplying power units to Red Bull Racing
• 2021: Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen won the Drivers’ Championship; Honda concluded its formal Formula 1 participation

• 2022: HRC began providing technical support to Red Bull Powertrains; Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen won the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championship title
• 2023: Honda announced its participation as a power unit supplier in Formula 1 starting the 2026 season; Red Bull Racing and Max Verstappen won the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championship for the second consecutive season

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