Honda has said it will not return as an engine supplier at next year’s Formula One World Championships.

The Japanese automaker will end its participation with Formula One at the end of the 2021 season. Currently, Honda builds engines for a few teams including Red Bull Racing.

According to Chief Executive Takahiro Hachigo, the decision to quit Formula One is because the company wants to focus on green energy.

“This is not a result of the coronavirus pandemic but because of our longer-term carbon-free goal,” he said at an online news conference.

The news is timely; Honda is due to release its first mass-market all-battery car this month – the Honda E. It has said that by 2030, it expects two thirds of its output to be ‘new-energy’ vehicles, including all-electric models.

In other news, Saudi Arabia’s Grand Prix looks like it will be joining the tail-end of the 2021 F1 calendar.

Much like the Monaco and Singapore Grand Prix, The Kingdom’s first Formula One event will be a street race. Currently, it’s thought that the race will take place in Saudi Arabia’s second-biggest city Jeddah.

The city was previously thought to host the one-off race (with an aim to make it a regular thing) using a purpose-built facility inside the entertainment area of Qiddiya. However, thanks to delays with the project, it make sense to move the course within the city.

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