Rumor: Honda eyeing Formula E

Honda’s withdrawal from Formula 1 Friday has raised speculation about a potential Formula E involvement for the Gen3 rules set that arrives in 2022/23.

Timing-wise it works – move engineers from F1 program to Formula E; and messaging wise it fits into its goal of  electrifying two-thirds of their global automobile unit sales by 2030.

Face it, the passenger car world is going electric, we predicted that almost 10 years ago. Hence, internal combustion powered race cars have zero relevance to the cars of the future. R&D money is all moving to the electric side of the house now.

Any motorsports series that does not see the writing on the wall are simply living in an alternate universe.

There is still some value from a marketing standpoint to win with internal combustion race cars from a competition standpoint, but those marketing budgets are shrinking.

Motorsports has a choice to make: either continued association with automobile companies and following their technology direction towards all-electric by around 2030, or cutting those strings and trying to exist as a specialist entertainment sport with internal combustion engines. Mark C. reporting for AutoRacing1.com