Honda Yasuaki Asaki, Head of HRD Sakura, thinks about the future of F1 "For carbon neutrality ... F1 has a role to play"

Power unit RA619H that achieved Honda's first victory in the 4th season

　Honda has ended its F1 activities by the end of 2021. However, there are still some uncertainties about how F1's power unit will develop in the future. [Photo] Honda will be launched in 2021! A new type of energy store that can also be used for carbon neutralization.The current power unit regulations will be used until 2025, but after that, the MGU-H will be abolished and a V6 turbo engine + kinetic energy regeneration system will be used. However, the world's automobile industry is heading in the direction of full electrification. Several European countries have pledged to ban the sale of new cars with internal combustion engines within the next few years. In that sense, F1, which uses the engine as a power source, seems to go against the times. "Then what kind of F1 PU will be in the future?" Yasuaki Asaki (Head of Honda R&D Center HRD Sakura), who led Honda's F1 project, said that future F1 regulations must help achieve carbon neutrality. “Honda also said it would withdraw from F1 in order to achieve carbon neutrality. I think the future will be quite tough if we don't change to a race that can realize a carbon-neutral society as soon as possible." "It seems that F1 is desperately trying to change. Regulations will open up a new era, not just for the sake of the future.Without this awareness, I don't think there is a future."　As mentioned above, there is a growing demand for the electrification of automobiles around the world. ing. However, Director Asaki says that we should consider various options and move forward into the future. "Honda is adopting a multi-path strategy. There is probably more than one way to achieve a carbon-neutral society." "One big one is electricity. However, I think that carbon-neutral fuel is also important.We will use it on the circuit and conduct demonstration experiments such as combustion technology ... such a role remains in F1. If we don't do that, I don't think there will be a future not only for F1, but also for racing." Yes, but I think it would be great if the racing industry could play a central role in promoting this as one of the options for multipathing.”　Asaki, who has developed engines for F1 so far. It is said that the engine has a charm that is hard to replace. “An engine is accompanied by an explosion. An explosion is a heartbeat, isn’t it? "There are other attractions. For example, if everything were electrified, people in areas where the charging infrastructure could not reach would not be able to drive. If we can create a fuel that does not exist, we may be able to continue to drive cars around the world without causing a burden on the global environment. I think it's necessary to develop a neutral fuel." "If we could create something that could run as long as there was sun, we might not have such problems. It is necessary, and there are various problems." "In other words, instead of focusing on just EVs, I think we should also focus on the development of carbon-neutral fuels."