Carey: Honda exit driven by economic challenges

An exit that the Japanese engine supplier said was influenced by its decision "to strive for the realization of carbon neutrality by 2050" and develop related technologies, Carey suggests sustainability was not actually the prime motivator behind their exit.

"I guess two things on the Honda decision," Carey said in a conference call with investors on Thursday after F1 announced its Q3 results. "I think one is that it was, from my perspective, largely driven by economic challenges at the overall Honda entity.

"The auto industry in general is having some challenges, and I think Honda clearly is living and struggling with those challenges. So I think that was the core issue.

"There's no question that there are economics around the engine that we're going to address. But I think Honda felt those pressures existed today, and they had to make some decisions."

At the same time, Carey says F1 is seeing increased interest from both inside and outside the sport for the next engine formula in 2026, with its green credentials an important factor.

"I think on the flip side, we actually are getting increasing support," he revealed. "And not just from the players that are in the sport, the OEMs that are in the sport, but OEMs that aren't.

"They're actually incredibly enthusiastic about our sustainability future, where we're going with the next generation engine.

"I don't know if you saw the quote a couple months ago from the CEO of Volkswagen, they couldn't have been more positive about where we're going, and the importance of us as a platform.

"So I think as we continue to flush out and put more information out there about our next generation engine and sustainability goals we're actually getting increasing support and interest from both existing partners and potential new partners about the importance of that to their future."