Why latest Honda Formula 1 exit means it may never come back

It’s a universal truth of Formula 1 that manufacturers come and go. With the exception of Ferrari, which has competed in every world championship season, other car makers have flitted in and out over the years.

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Whether it is current competitors like Mercedes and Renault, or long gone companies like Ford, BMW, Lotus and Toyota, being a member of the grand prix gang or being outside it has been part of the ebb and flow of any company wanting to sell cars.

In that context, Honda’s announcement that it is leaving at the end of 2021 can be seen as nothing more than simply bringing to a close its fourth era in the sport.

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Author Jonathan Noble

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.

Jonathan has won multiple awards for journalism - in 1991 he was the winner of the Guild of Motoring Writers’ Sir William Lyons’ Award for young journalists, in 2010 he was awarded the Outstanding Individual accolade for consumer journalism in the Haymarket wards, in 2011 he won Haymarket’s Scoop of the Year, and in 2018 he was awarded a prestigious Medaglia d’Oro at the Lorenzo Bandini Awards for his contribution to F1 journalism.