Honda to open F1 base at Milton Keynes

Honda have announced that they will commence their Formula One operations from a new base at Milton Keynes, UK. The factory is set to be operational by June 2014.

Honda is set to return to Formula One in a join project with McLaren, providing the team with technical expertise and an entirely new 1.6 litre V6 turbo engines according to the new engine regulations that start in 2014.

The base, currently used by Honda associates Mugen is in the same town as the headquarters of Red Bull Racing and in close proximity to the McLaren technology centre at Woking, UK.

Although research and development of the Honda engines will continue to be done in Japan, in the factory Honda Tochigi R & D, a few kilometers from Gunma and Ibaraki, the car maker believes it is important to have an operational base close to the F1 teams.

Yasuhisa Arai, Honda’s chief officer of motorsports, said: “With the confirmation of a new F1 operation base in UK, 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.”