Honda is now one step closer to a possible F1 return

At the end of the 2021 F1 season, Honda left the sport as an engine manufacturer. This was because the company was trying to reduce its carbon footprint and the sport was still generating a lot of emissions.

However, as the sport is aiming for net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, the Japanese automobile company could make a return as an engine manufacturer. The FIA will bring in new engine rules in 2026 that might favor Honda.

Even after leaving in 2021, Honda has continued to offer technical support to Red Bull and AlphaTauri powertrain developments. After successful runs in 2021 and 2022, Honda extended its partnership with Red Bull and its sister team and has planned to offer support until the end of 2025.

However, after the deal between Red Bull and Porsche collapsed, rumors and speculations about Honda returning to the sport increased.

Both the success of Red Bull and the sport heading towards net-zero carbon emissions are the main reasons why Honda could make a return. As reported by Autosport, Honda Racing president Koji Watanabe has shown interest in manufacturing power units from 2026 in the Honda Motor Sport Activity Plan Presentation.

Overall, the chances of Honda returning to the sport have surely increased, but that has not been confirmed in any way. There is still a long way to go before the new engine rules are applied. Moreover, as Red Bull is also working on building its own powertrains for the future, this might change how Honda approaches its return.

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F1 aiming to change season calendar to reduce travel-based emissions

As F1 aims to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2030, they are gradually introducing several rules and changes to the sport. One of the changes is based on the season calendar. They recently tweeted about their road map and plans to achieve that goal.

Since the entire F1 paddock needs to shift in order for races to happen in different parts of the world, most of the sport's carbon emissions come from traveling. Several cargo planes take the entire paddock from one location to another.

Hence, the heads of the sport are planning to change the season calendar and group certain races that are geographically closer to each other. This will reduce the number of long-haul flights and consequently reduce emissions. The calendar can be rearranged according to different continents or even certain regions that host a lot of races.

Apart from all this, F1 is also aiming to reduce the staff and equipment on the paddock by increasing remote broadcast operations. Nearly all the offices and other hospitality areas on the F1 paddock will also use 100% renewable energy to further reduce emissions.