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.

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 and 2023.

They began development of the RA271 in 1962 and startled the European-dominated Formula One garages with their all-Japanese factory team (except for American drivers Ronnie Bucknum and Richie Ginther).

The team's new Honda RA302 appeared in only a single race at Rouen-Les-Essarts, lasting only a few laps before its fiery crash resulted in the death of driver Jo Schlesser.

[3] Honda returned to Formula One in 1983 as an engine supplier for Spirit and stayed in the sport for a decade, at various times teaming with Williams (1983–87), Lotus (1987–88), McLaren (1988–92) and finally Tyrrell (1991).

As an engine supplier, Honda made its World Championship debut with Spirit's Swedish driver Stefan Johansson at the 1983 British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

At their peak (1986–91) Honda engines were considered the ticket to Grand Prix glory due to their power, reliability, sophistication and winning track record.

Mated to the Steve Nichols designed McLaren MP4/4 and with then dual World Champion Alain Prost and Brazilian Ayrton Senna as the drivers, the McLaren-Honda duo had an almost perfect season.

Fittingly in the last race of Formula One's original turbo era, the 1988 Australian Grand Prix, Honda-powered drivers closed out the podium with Prost defeating Senna with the Lotus of Nelson Piquet finishing an easy 3rd.

Honda's first season as a team since 1968 started fairly well, with Jenson Button finishing fourth at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix and scoring a podium at the second round in Malaysia.

Pit-stop problems also hampered the team early on, in one case effectively ruining Jenson Button's chances for a good result and possible podium at Imola.

Honda suddenly exited the sport at the end of the 2008 season, unwilling to continue the Brackley-based team's $300 million budget and staff of 700 during the global economic crisis.

A number of potential owners were linked to the team, including Prodrive boss David Richards, Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, and the Virgin Group.

[22] Over the 2015 season, the McLaren-Honda package proved to be significantly underpowered and unreliable, and the team finished ninth in the constructors' championship with fifth place in Hungary as their best result.

Reasons for the lacklustre performance included Honda lacking experience and data with the new regulations, a token system limiting development,[23] as well as fundamental issues with McLaren's "size zero" chassis concept.

[30] From 2018 onwards, Honda split the responsibilities of project leader in two, with Toyoharu Tanabe taking charge of trackside operations and Yasuaki Asaki leading development in Japan.

[31] In addition, Honda would also provide full trackside factory support, brand endorsements, free engines and official vehicles to Scuderia Toro Rosso.

[33] The introduction of the Spec 3 power unit brought notable performance improvements, yielding sixth and seventh places in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Honda entered the 2019 season powering both Red Bull Racing and Toro Rosso,[37] meaning that they would be engine partner to multiple teams for the first time since 2008.

[38] Honda and Red Bull aimed to work closely together to allow for perfect synergy between chassis and power unit, which would provide a significant packaging advantage.

[43] Another win followed two races later in the wet German Grand Prix, where Verstappen won and Toro Rosso's Daniil Kvyat came third to make it a double podium for Honda.

The eighth round, the Italian Grand Prix, saw AlphaTauri's Pierre Gasly achieve his first Formula One victory; he took the lead of the race following a red flag period and managed to retain it to the finish.

[54] The last five races of the year brought a double podium for Red Bull in Bahrain and a win from pole position for Verstappen at the season finale in Abu Dhabi.

[55] In October 2020, Honda announced they would withdraw from Formula One at the end of the 2021 season, citing their need to focus resources on next-generation road vehicle technologies to make necessary strides towards carbon neutrality.

[57] It proved highly competitive against main rival Mercedes on power, often having superior energy recovery and deployment,[58] while having stronger reliability and smaller dimensions.

Verstappen extended his lead by winning the following French, Styrian and Austrian Grands Prix – each of them from pole position – marking the first time Honda had won five consecutive races since 1988.

[61][62] For the Belgian Grand Prix, Honda introduced a new energy store to further increase performance and reduce weight, having started the year with an old-spec unit.

[63] Verstappen subsequently regained the championship lead by winning the Belgian and Dutch Grands Prix, and slightly extended it after Italy, but briefly lost it again after finishing second in Russia.

At a test of this car, Postlethwaite suffered a fatal heart attack, the project was later shelved and Honda decided to recommit as a full works engine supplier to BAR, starting in 2000.

[82] During the 2022 season, the Honda-designed and built engines were badged as Red Bull Powertrains (RBPT) units, reflecting Honda's official withdrawal from Formula One.