“Win on Sunday, sell on Monday,” is the slogan by which automakers involved in motorsport live or die. It’s a simple concept: Winning is good for business, and Honda’s been doing plenty of that in Formula 1 over the past few seasons. Perhaps it’s time to commemorate that with something like, say, a hypercar?
Speaking to The Drive at the Indianapolis 500, Honda Racing Corporation president Koji Watanabe said there’s a desire to build a halo car that celebrates Honda’s involvement in Formula 1. Specifically, I asked him about a project similar to what Red Bull Advanced Technologies and Adrian Newey are doing with the RB17.
“Yes, yes, but no plans yet,” Watanabe told The Drive. “But in the future, we want to make such kind of vehicle combined with F1 technology.”
That is good news for all Honda and Acura fans out there, whether they’re into racing or not. As you already know, the Acura NSX has already seen its last iteration (at least for this generation) with the NSX Type S in 2022. The Honda Civic Type R and Acura Integra Type S are seen as the automaker’s performance icons right now, but as great as they are, they aren’t supercars, let alone hypercars.
Creating something like Newey’s two-seater hypercar would be a challenge for Honda, but one that it’s well prepared to tackle. The knowledge it’s collected from its time in F1—most specifically during its partnership with Red Bull Racing—will undoubtedly be invaluable for said project. And let’s not forget about 2026, when it’ll officially partner with Aston Martin in Formula 1.
Watanabe highlighted that while there’s a desire to build a hypercar with F1 technology, there isn’t a plan in place yet. The automaker expects to have sporty hybrid and electric cars like the Prelude on the road in the next few years, leaving us wondering about other special projects.
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