F1 Division
The Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda has participated in Formula One, as an engine manufacturer and team owner, for various periods since 1964. Honda's involvement in Formula One began as a full team and engine entry in the 1964 season, and in 1965 they achieved their first victory at the Mexican Grand Prix. After further success with John Surtees, Honda withdrew at the end of the 1968 season due to difficulties selling road cars in the United States and Honda driver Jo Schlesser's fatal accident.
Honda returned in 1983 as an engine manufacturer, which started a very successful period for the company. After winning races in 1984 and 1985, Honda won the Constructors' Championship every year between 1986 and 1991 with Williams and McLaren, and the Drivers' Championship every year from 1987 to 1991 with Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. Honda withdrew at the end of 1992 after having achieved their targets and suffering the burst of the Japanese asset price bubble.
Honda returned again in 2000, providing engines for British American Racing (BAR). BAR-Honda finished second in the Constructors' Championship in 2004, and by the end of 2005 Honda had bought out the BAR team, which was rebranded as Honda for 2006. After winning in 2006 with Jenson Button at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Honda announced in December 2008 that they would be exiting Formula One with immediate effect due to the global financial crisis, following limited success across 2007 and 2008.
In 2015, Honda returned to the sport as a works power unit supplier to McLaren. The first iterations of the Honda power units proved to be uncompetitive, and McLaren and Honda split after three years. Toro Rosso agreed to use Honda engines for the 2018 season as a works outfit, and after Honda showed fast development with the engines, Red Bull Racing agreed to also take on Honda engines for the 2019 season. Honda achieved their first victory of the hybrid era at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix, and numerous wins followed thereafter with both teams. The programme culminated in the 2021 season, when Honda-powered driver Max Verstappen won the World Championship. The company officially withdrew from the series after 2021 to focus its resources on carbon neutral technologies, although an arrangement was made for them to continue supplying the Red Bull teams until the end of 2025, with the Honda-built engines winning further titles in 2022. They will make a full-scale return in 2026 with Aston Martin as their works partner, enticed by the introduction of more sustainable regulations.
MotoGP Division
Repsol Honda is the official factory team of the Honda Racing Corporation in the MotoGP class of Grand Prix motorcycle racing (World Championship road racing), backed by principal sponsor Repsol
In 1995 the team entered a three rider lineup with Mick Doohan, Àlex Crivillé and Shinichi Ito riding the Honda NSR500. Doohan won the World Championship for the second time in a row in Argentina, with one race left for the end of the season with seven race wins, Crivillé finished the season fourth with one race win while Ito finished fifth overall. The team expanded to four riders in 1996; Doohan and Crivillé rode the NSR500 while Tadayuki Okada and Ito rode the Honda NSR500V. Doohan won his third World Championship with eight race wins and Crivillé finished runner-up with two wins. Okada finished seventh and Ito twelfth.
The four rider line-up continued in 1997 with Doohan, Crivillé and Okada on the NSR500 and Takuma Aoki on the NSR500V. Repsol Honda won all 15 races of the season with Doohan winning twelve races, and breaking Giacomo Agostini's record for victories in one season, on his way to his fourth World Championship. Okada finished runner-up with a race win, Crivillé finished fourth with two wins but had to miss five races after a serious crash at Assen while Aoki finished fifth overall. Repsol Honda riders took all of the podium positions at four events, in Japan, Spain, Germany and Indonesia.
For 1998, Doohan, Crivillé and Okada continued with the team riding the NSR500 and Sete Gibernau joined them riding the NSR500V. Doohan continued to dominate the championship with eight wins and was crowned World Champion for the fifth time in Australia, in front of his home fans and with one race left in the season. Crivillé finished third overall with two wins, while Okada had to miss three races after breaking his wrist during practice of the Italian Grand Prix and finished eighth overall. Gibernau finished eleventh. The team line-up remained the same for 1999, with Doohan, Crivillé, Okada and Gibernau all returning. During qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix, Doohan had a serious crash and ultimately caused his retirement from the sport. Crivillé went on to win six races and clinch the World Championship in Rio de Janeiro with one race left in the season. Okada finished third overall with three race wins. Gibernau who started the season on the NSR500V before replacing Doohan on the NSR500 finished fifth overall. The team managed an all Repsol Honda riders podium at Catalunya with Crivillé first, Okada second and Gibernau third.
Honda Performance Development (HPD)
Honda Racing Corporation USA (HRC US), formerly Honda Performance Development, Inc. (HPD), is a subsidiary of American Honda Motor Co. which was established in 1993 and is based in Santa Clarita, California. It is the technical operations center for Honda's American motorsports programs and is involved in the design and development of race engines and chassis for auto racing series such as the IndyCar Series, American Le Mans Series (ALMS), European Le Mans Series (ELMS), FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) and IMSA SportsCar Championship
HPD debuted in the CART IndyCar World Series as a works engine manufacturer in 1994. During their first season in 1994, they scored a podium at Toronto, while in 1995 they scored their first victory at New Hampshire. In 1996, HPD won its first manufacturers' and drivers' championships after taking 11 wins from 16 races. HPD took six consecutive drivers championships' as it won the drivers' title again in 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001, while it won the manufacturers' title again in 1998, 1999 and 2001.
In 2003, HPD moved to the IRL IndyCar Series. In 2004, HPD overwhelmingly dominated the IndyCar Series by winning 14 of 16 races, including the Indianapolis 500, and claiming the manufacturers' and drivers' championship titles. The 2005 season was similarly successful as the company took its second Indy 500 victory and won 12 races to win the manufacturers' and drivers' crowns. From 2006 to 2011, HPD was the sole engine manufacturer of the IndyCar Series, including the Indianapolis 500. During this period, the Indianapolis 500s were run without any engine failures for the first six times in Indy 500 history, while no race failures occurred in the entire 2008, 2010 and 2011 seasons.
Manufacturer competition returned to the series in 2012, and HPD has constructed turbocharged V6 engines for its effort. Since then, HPD has won the Indianapolis 500 in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, and 2022, the drivers' championship in 2013, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2023 and the manufacturers' championship in 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
