Honda’s 10 Greatest Formula 1 Moments of All Time

It may be leaving for the fourth time next year, but Honda has a brilliant Formula 1 history. We consider its 10 finest moments.

Many were shocked by Honda’s revelation that it will exit Formula 1 at the end of 2021. “Honda needs to funnel its corporate resources in research and development into the areas of future power unit and energy technologies, including fuel cell and battery vehicle technologies,” The company announced. “These will be the core of carbon-free technologies.”

That said, the company has an incredible and quite unique Formula 1 history, not least of all its record of now coming and going four times in under 60 years. But forget about the negatives, let’s take a look at the top Formula 1 moments in Honda’s incredible flirtation with the sport.

1. German GP ’64 —  Incredible Tech, Baby Steps

Honda’s arrival in Formula 1 was quite unique in many more ways than one. It arrived with incredible technology. Early-‘60s F1 demanded a maximum engine capacity of 1,500 cc, but that did not stop Honda from building a V12 engine. The RA271 was a very different car — its tiny V12 was also transversely mounted, in total defiance to already well established north-south F1 norms.

That was not the only odd part of Honda’s F1 debut. It signed an unknown driver to race the revolutionary RA271A 1.5 V12. Honda plucked American club racer Ronnie Bucknum from relative obscurity and thrust him straight into F1. Why? Well, the modest carmaker sought not to attract attention to its arrival in the sport! Bucknum came home 13th on Honda’s ’64 German GP debut before retiring from his next two starts.

2. Richie Ginther Wins Honda’s First Car Grand Prix — 1965

Satisfied with its first toe in the F1 water, Honda signed another American, Richie Ginther to join Bucknum in a pair of new RA272s for 1965. An initially troubled season saw Ginther score Honda’s maiden F1 points in Belgium and Germany. Most of the rest of ’65 results however brought retirements and non-points placings as the team struggled to come to terms with is complex machines.

It all came right when Ginther won the Mexican Grand Prix with Bucknum, a career-best sixth to close off the 1500cc Formula 1 era. There were big changes coming for ’65 and like the rest, it was back to the drawing board for the pioneering Honda team.

3. Surtees Flies the 3-liter Flag–1967

1966 brought the step up to the new 3-liter Formula 1 with Ginther only joining the fray aboard the all-new RE273 at the sixth round before Bucknum joined him even later in the season. Then 1964 F1 world champion and multiple motorcycle world champion, albeit never on a Honda, John Surtees joined the team from Ferrari as its sole driver for ’67.

Surtees promptly put the RE273 onto the podium in his maiden outing in South Africa . Surtees made for another historic Honda Formula 1 moment when he won the Italian Grand Prix aboard the brand new RE300. 1968 would prove a trying year for Honda, with not much more than a couple of podiums for Surtees amid several retirements with the troublesome RA301.

Then Jo Schlesser suffered a terrible fatal accident when his magnesium-rich experimental Honda RA302 crashed, exploded and burned uncontrollably. Honda exited the sport shortly after that, citing difficulties in selling road cars in the U.S. as the reason.

4. Second Coming & Honda’s First World Title — 1986 

Honda returned to the Formula 1 scene 15 years later, as an engine supplier in the turbo 1500 era. It supplied Spirit with RA163E V6s from midway through 1983, before shifting that supply to Williams at the end of that season. Keke Rosberg took a second in Williams-Honda’s second-ever race in Brazil in ’84 and won in Dallas midseason.

Rosberg and Jacques Laffite saw Honda to sixth in that year’s constructor’s title. Rosberg and Nigel Mansell then won two races apiece in 1985, including the final three rounds of the ’85 world championship. The latest spec RE165E V6 helped Williams clinch a constructor’s title third. Nelson Piquet then joined Mansell in the RE166E-powered Williams Honda in 1986. They won nine of the 16 races between them to clinch Honda’s first F1 world constructors championship.

‘Honda’s 10 Greatest Formula 1 Moments of All Time’ continued…

Michele Lupini

Once a handy engine and chassis tuner, and a combative racer and rally driver, Michele took up the pen to express his passion for cars, racing and motoring over 30 years ago. He published South Africa’s go-to enthusiast motor magazines Cars in Action and Bakkie — some say against all odds — for a quarter century. In that time, Michele had a hand in nurturing many of South Africa's motoring media leaders. Today Michele keeps himself busy with his a range of international motoring media duties alongside his own theauto.page. And a little racing on the side.