Why Honda's F1 exit will not force F1 hybrid U-turn

By:

Jonathan Noble

Oct 7, 2020, 3:47 PM

Honda's decision to quit F1 at the end of 2021 has prompted suggestions the series simply isn't going far enough for manufacturers with its green technologies. But there are several good reasons why it won't be abandoning its hybrid concept post-Honda

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Amid the immediate fallout of Honda's bombshell announcement that it was quitting Formula 1, it was all too easy to jump to the conclusion that this was a huge blow to grand prix racing's green credentials.

After all, the justifications for the Japanese manufacturer not wishing to continue its F1 journey were all linked to environmentally friendly considerations: the push for the road car company to be fully carbon neutral by 2050, and to have two-thirds of its sales as electric vehicles by 2030.

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Jonathan Noble

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Jonathan Noble is Motorsport.com’s Formula 1 editor. Having graduated from University of Sussex Jonathan worked for sports news agency Collings Sports reporting on F1, F3, touring cars and other sports, with articles appearing in The Daily Telegraph, The Independent, Reuters, Autosport and other publications. In 1999 he moved to Haymarket Publishing to become a senior editor at Autosport Special Projects, and one year later he became Autosport’s grand prix editor. In 2015 he moved to Motorsport Network, becoming the F1 editor for Motorsport.com. He is also a member of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and sits on the FIA Media Council.