Last weekend, the 2021 Formula One World Championship came to an end with Red Bull Car Verstappen finally reaching the top podium in Abu Dhabi. Perhaps, some people will dwell on the drama of the final moments of the championship competition; some people will linger on the 20-year career of Finnish Iceman Raikkonen; and some people will look forward to Zhou Guanyu's performance in the 2022 season. But the most emotional thing is that after the end of the season, Honda's sudden withdrawal.
Finally goodbye, and this time maybe forever.
In fact, as early as the beginning of the season, Honda announced that it would retire from this top event after the end of the 2021 season.
That said, starting the 2022 season, Honda will no longer supply engines and related components to both The Red Bull and Alpha Tauri teams.
With honda's withdrawal, the world's highest-spec car race is left with only three engine suppliers: Mercedes-Benz, Ferrari and Renault.
As one of the strongest cars in F1 in 2021, the Red Bull RB16B won 10 races with the blessing of Honda Engine, and helped Verstappen win the first F1 Drivers' Championship of the Year in his racing career, helping Red Bull Racing win the title of Runner-up of The Year.
However, just as Red Bull ended Mercedes' years of dominance and prepared to create a big scene, Honda chose to retreat.
In Honda's words, the accumulation of technology in the F1 arena in recent years has made the company gain a lot.
As we all know, in 2014, F1 officially implemented new rules to open the era of hybrids, which undoubtedly gave Honda a rare opportunity to verify and perfect its hybrid technology. Over the years, the development of Honda's hybrid engine has been continuously improved through the data collected during the competition, and the i-MMD hybrid technology, which has been decentralized to the civilian market, has deservedly become one of the most advanced hybrid engines in the market.
Perhaps in Honda's view, once the mission has been completed, there is no point in continuing. In addition, the global consensus on carbon neutrality and carbon peaking has also accelerated the process of Honda's electrification transformation. Therefore, the rapids are brave or their best choice.
Of course, there are also some people who believe that perhaps in the near future, Honda will return to the World Formula One arena again. After all, it's not the first time Honda has quit the tournament and returned.
In 1962, Honda had just obtained the production qualification of civilian cars, and Honda, eager to show its car-making ability, decided to join the F1 race in 1964 to prove its strength, technology and determination to build cars. Amazingly, as a rookie, Honda won its first race with the RA272 upgraded car in the second year of joining F1.
Later, in response to the U.S. Air Plot Act, Honda decided to develop more environmentally friendly engines and cars, and announced its withdrawal from F1 in 1968.
In 1983, Honda decided to return to F1 to validate the application of its turbocharging technology. Thanks to the perverted strength of the RA167E engine, Honda began to dominate F1 events, so that for the sake of game viewing, the FIA changed the rules of the tournament twice, but neither stopped Honda from dominating the situation.
In 1991, the invincible and lonely Honda announced its withdrawal from F1 for the second time.
In 20,000, Honda, with a "small calculation", returned to F1 again. In the following years, Honda completed the acquisition of an Anglo-American teams and used the influence of the event to fully demonstrate its development philosophy and vision. Among them, the racing car in the "Earth" livery expresses Honda's emphasis on the environmental protection of future cars.
In 2007, the global financial crisis broke out. As a last resort, Honda announced its third retirement from F1 in 2008.
In 2015, Honda returned to F1 for the fourth time in line with the verification of hybrid technology. Over the years, Honda continued to improve engine performance. It is worth noting that in 2015, the returning Honda engine was 3 seconds slower than the championship car, and the quilt was covered by 3 laps, while in 2021, they helped the team drivers win the individual championship of the year and the runner-up of the annual team.
Soichiro Honda once said that motorsport is the best touchstone for validating automotive products, so again and again, Honda has brought products and technologies that are world-renowned. However, under the once-in-a-century automotive industry, Honda, which is determined to transform electrification, may not return. But no matter when, Honda's spirit of challenge is innate and deserves the timeless phrase "VTEC is the best"!