Honda entered Formula One in 1964, just four years after producing their first road car, fielding a wholly Japanese factory team with their own chassis and engine. In 1965, Richie Ginther won the Mexican Grand Prix in the RA272 — Honda's first Formula One victory. John Surtees drove the RA300 to victory at the 1967 Italian Grand Prix in only the car's first Formula One race. The chassis was partly co-designed with Lola, earning the car the press nickname "Hondola."
The following season's RA301 was unreliable, and the experimental air-cooled RA302 suffered a fatal accident at Rouen-Les-Essarts when driver Jo Schlesser was killed. That crash, combined with difficulty selling road cars in the United States, prompted Honda's withdrawal at the end of 1968.
Honda returned in 1983 as an engine supplier, initially to the Spirit team and quickly thereafter to Williams. The partnership between Williams and Honda began to bear fruit in 1984 and 1985, with Keke Rosberg winning the 1984 Dallas Grand Prix for Honda's first supplier win.
At their peak from 1986 to 1991, Honda engines were the defining factor in Grand Prix success. Williams used Honda power to win the Constructors' Championship in 1986 and 1987, with Nelson Piquet taking the 1987 Drivers' title. McLaren then secured works Honda supply from 1988. The 1988 season was arguably the most dominant in Formula One history: the McLaren-Honda partnership, with Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna as drivers, claimed 15 pole positions and 15 race victories from 16 races. Senna became World Champion while Prost scored more total points across the season. McLaren recorded 199 points — a record margin ahead of second-placed Ferrari on 65.
Honda powered McLaren to four consecutive Constructors' Championships from 1988 to 1991, and their drivers won five consecutive Drivers' titles: Senna in 1988, 1990 and 1991, Prost in 1989, and Piquet in 1987 with Williams. Nigel Mansell recalled that Honda were developing four to six entirely different engines within a single season at their peak.
Honda-powered cars won 71 Grands Prix by the end of the 1992 season. The company withdrew at the end of that year following the burst of the Japanese asset price bubble.
Honda returned in 2000 as a works engine supplier to British American Racing (BAR), also supporting Jordan Grand Prix for 2001 and 2002. BAR-Honda achieved their best result in 2004, finishing second in the Constructors' Championship behind dominant Ferrari. In September 2005, Honda purchased the remaining shares of BAR to become sole owner, rebranding the team Honda Racing F1 for 2006.
In Honda's first season as a constructor since 1968, Jenson Button won the 2006 Hungarian Grand Prix from fourteenth on the grid — Honda's only victory in this era as a team owner. The following two seasons brought limited success and, in December 2008, Honda announced immediate withdrawal from Formula One citing the global financial crisis. The team was bought out by principal Ross Brawn, becoming Brawn GP in 2009 and subsequently Mercedes.
Honda returned as a power unit supplier to McLaren in 2015, providing the RA Series hybrid V6 engines developed to suit McLaren's aerodynamically restrictive "size zero" chassis concept. The package proved uncompetitive and unreliable, and after three seasons the partnership dissolved. Toro Rosso agreed to use Honda engines for 2018 as a works outfit, and senior team Red Bull Racing signed up for 2019 after evaluating Honda's rapid development trajectory.
Honda achieved their first win in the hybrid era at the 2019 Austrian Grand Prix with Max Verstappen. The programme culminated in the 2021 season: Verstappen won the World Championship in the final race in Abu Dhabi, becoming the first Honda-powered World Champion since Senna in 1991. Honda officially withdrew from Formula One after 2021 to focus on carbon-neutral road vehicle technology.
Honda agreed to continue constructing and supplying power units to Red Bull and AlphaTauri through the end of 2025 under the Honda RBPT designation, facilitated by the frozen power unit regulations for that period. Red Bull and Verstappen won the Constructors' and Drivers' Championships in 2022, 2023 and 2024 with Honda-derived engines.
Honda confirmed a full-scale return to Formula One from 2026 with Aston Martin as their works partner, drawn by the new regulations' emphasis on sustainable fuels and an increased electric power contribution of approximately 50% of total output. The 2026 entry marks Honda's fifth distinct era in the sport.