Yamamoto hopes that young employees will be able to persuade seniors to return Honda to F1

Masashi Yamamoto hopes that the young people's enthusiasm for Honda will help persuade Honda to eventually return to F1.

Honda's F1 program director has previously said he hopes to get Honda back into the sport in some form after leaving as an engine supplier at the end of 2021.

Red Bull has inherited Honda's intellectual property, built Red Bull's powertrain, and formed its own factory team in the process, but Honda is said to still be involved in "a lot of work" to help them with their transformation. But if Honda is going to return to the sport in the future, their F1 program director says it's the responsibility of younger employees to try to "convince" those at the top.

Yamamoto said: "Personally, I hope and expect Honda to return to F1, depending on the passion of Honda's young people for motorsport and whether they can convince senior management. History will repeat itself, so I hope this will happen. ”

Yamamoto also said he was proud that, given Mercedes' dominance in the turbo-hybrid era, Honda was finally able to create a powerplant that was "almost identical to mercedes."

Looking back on their full time in the sport, he added that despite their initial upset with McLaren, they were able to make steady progress over seven seasons and eventually get on the front lines of the game.

Yamamoto said: "We fought against strong opponents last season and we ended up at the top of the F1 world. This is thanks to the hard work of all our engineers and mechanics, who never gave up even in the most difficult times and made many technological breakthroughs in the process. We can demonstrate the effectiveness of our technology and the capabilities of our employees, which of course would not have been possible without the important role of our great partner Red Bull Racing and Little Red Bull Racing. ”