Honda explains departure: 'Focus is now on projects that are sustainable'

Honda announced last week that they will leave F1 after 2021. Because of this, Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri have to look for a new engine supplier. However, according to Masashi Yamamoto, Honda will remain enormously involved with the sport until they leave it.

"Of course it was a difficult decision to make. We finally decided that we need to focus on future projects that are more sustainable. We have a good partnership with Red Bull and AlphaTauri. We'll be introducing upgrades in the future to strengthen the partnership," Honda's CEO explained at the press conference on Friday.

"We will have many more victories this season. If you look at the good cooperation we now have with both teams, we are just going to work very hard to get the most out of each race," Yamamoto explained. Christian Horner knew about Honda's announced departure earlier but was disappointed that the decision was made in the end.

"It's a great pity of course, but there have been a number of discussions over the last few weeks and you could see that Honda is in a big dilemma. The confirmation of the decision came last week. We have had a good cooperation so far, but we respect the decision and we are also very grateful that they give us time to think about the future," Horner concluded.