nBClPFdT Rubens Barrichello driving the Honda RA108 at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix
Rubens Barrichello driving the Honda RA108 at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix
Rubens Barrichello driving the Honda RA108 at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix
Wheel life
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60 years since Honda’s first F1 victory

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60 years since Honda’s first F1 victory
Riley Riley

Coming into the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship season in Melbourne, Honda is celebrating 60 years since its first ever victory in Formula One.

Honda first entered F1 at the German Grand Prix in August 1964, and in October 1965, won their first race at the Mexican Grand Prix.

Since that pivotal day, the brand has crafted cutting-edge and innovative products, demonstrating qualities that define true world champions in Formula One.

Its commitment to excellence and pursuit of progress has not only helped shape Formula One but has also set a benchmark for what it means to compete at the highest level.

Through continuous evolution, Honda has proven time and again that they are not just participants, but a great contender in the world of motorsport.

Honda F1 60 years 3

Honda F1 60 years 4
David Prince’s Civic Grand Prix Edition.

 

Interestingly, 2025 also marks almost 40 years since the Grand Prix Edition Honda Civic was launched into the Australian market.

The Civic featured a lightweight, all alloy 1.5 litre, 12 valve, SOHC engine and were available in red or white only.

It was built with colour matched bumpers with front and rear air dams, minted badges and side lettering entitling “GRAND PRIX EDITION”.

David Prince purchased a Grand Prix edition Honda Civic and joined the Honda Car Club of Victoria in 1984.

“An opportunity came up around 10 years through the club to restore a 1986 Civic Grand Prix Edition, which was a Limited Edition released by Honda Australia to celebrate Honda’s phenomenal success through the mid-80s, with the Honda powered Canon Williams FW11 cars”, David said.

“I knew then what a special car this was, and it deserved to be saved.”

“Hondas have always delivered quality and engineering innovation, while remaining great to drive and very easy to own.

Locally, the “Unstoppable Dreams” campaign highlights a wide range of Honda mobility technologies and features some of the brands most innovative products globally, across automotive, motorcycles and aircrafts.

It also follows the distinctive journeys of competitors with strong ties to Honda as they pursued their racing ambitions.

See also

In October 2020, Honda announced that it would withdraw from Formula One at the end of the 2021 season, citing a need to focus resources on next-generation road vehicle technologies to make necessary strides towards carbon neutrality. 

However, Honda agreed to a deal with Red Bull to continue constructing, servicing, and supplying Red Bull Racing and Scuderia AlphaTauri with power units from its facility in Sakura. 

Fast forward and Honda has announced it will make a full-scale return to F1 in 2026, partnering with Aston Martin.

 

Rubens Barrichello driving the Honda RA108 at the 2008 Australian Grand
Rubens Barrichello driving the Honda RA108 at the 2008 Australian Grand Prix

 

CHECKOUT: Honda HR-V: A straight shooter

CHECKOUT: Radical Honda rocked the auto world

 

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Riley
Riley
Chris Riley has been a journalist for 40 years. He has spent half of his career as a writer, editor and production editor in newspapers, the rest of the time driving and writing about cars both in print and online. His love affair with cars began as a teenager with the purchase of an old VW Beetle, followed by another Beetle and a string of other cars on which he has wasted too much time and money. A self-confessed geek, he’s not afraid to ask the hard questions - at the risk of sounding silly.
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