Honda to set up F1 base in Milton Keynes

Honda will be supplying engines to the McLaren team from 2015

Honda Motor Company Limited have announced that they will set up a base for Formula 1 operations in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom in the run up to their return to the sport in 2015 with the McLaren team.

McLaren are currently supplied engines by Mercedes, who supply engines to the Sahara Force India team and their own works team Mercedes AMG.

Next year they will add Williams F1 team to their customer base before losing McLaren to Honda in 2015.

The development and manufacturing of the Honda engines will be done at Honda’s research and development centre in Tochigi, Japan. They will use the UK base for trackside operations as it is much closer to many of the European circuits.

Yasuhisa Arai, Senior Managing Officer and Director, Chief Officer of Motorsports, Honda R&D Co., Ltd. said: “With the confirmation of a new F1 operation base in U.K., our preparation to join F1 has become more specific and concrete. To meet and exceed the expectations of our fans, we will accelerate our development to bring back the unique Honda engine sound onto the track.”

Honda will start operations at the new facility, currently used by Honda’s associates Mugen, in June 2014.