Honda makes its Formula 1 debut at the Nürburgring

Honda chose the Nürburgring for its Formula 1 debut, which was roughly equivalent to learning to swim by entering the roughest part of the ocean. The RA271 was ambitious, unusual and unreliable, but it placed a Japanese constructor on the World Championship grid for the first time.

Soichiro Honda regarded international motor racing as a way to establish the engineering credibility of a company still new to building cars. Honda had already become a major motorcycle manufacturer, but Formula 1 required it to develop an entire Grand Prix machine rather than supply one familiar component.

The result was the RA271. Honda built both the chassis and its 1.5-litre V12 engine, joining Ferrari and BRM among the small group of teams then producing a complete car and power unit.

A difficult car on the most difficult circuit

Honda selected American driver Ronnie Bucknum, who was also making his World Championship debut. Bucknum had limited European single-seater experience, but the team wanted a driver prepared to concentrate on development rather than arrive with established expectations.

Practice brought repeated problems. Carburettor trouble, a damaged oil pan and an engine seizure reduced the available running. Bucknum qualified near the back, almost a minute slower than John Surtees’s pole time over the Nordschleife’s enormous lap.

The race presented further mechanical difficulties. Bucknum completed 11 of the 15 laps and was classified 13th. There were no points and little evidence in the result table of the technical ambition contained in the car.

From difficult debut to first victory

Honda entered two more World Championship races during 1964. The RA271 remained unreliable, but the team gathered enough information to develop the improved RA272 for the following season.

Richie Ginther delivered Honda’s first Formula 1 victory at the 1965 Mexican Grand Prix. The win came only 14 months after the Nürburgring debut and established Honda as the first Japanese constructor to win a World Championship Grand Prix.

Later Honda programmes followed very different models, including works teams, engine partnerships and eventual championship success with Williams, McLaren and Red Bull. The first step was less polished: one white car, an inexperienced driver and four laps still remaining when the RA271’s debut ended.