Ex-Honda chief Yasuaki Asaki has claimed that Mercedes were ‘delighted’ to learn of HRC’s F1 engine secrets in a Japanese magazine.

A lot can be said about Honda’s fall from grace as a world championship-winning engine manufacturer to a resident backmarker. The entire 2026 F1 season has consisted of dirt being thrown their way, for good reason, too.

Now, in a column for the Japanese outlet, Web Sportiva, a former Honda engine chief has revealed how HRC had knowingly released all of their technical secrets pertaining to engine development between 2015 and 2021 to the world following their initial scheduled exit from the sport.

Naturally, Honda’s rivals, and especially Mercedes, were ‘delighted’.

Honda revealed full details of their technical development from 2015-2021 in a Japanese magazine

In his column, Asaki began by highlighting how the decision to release the full technical specifications of Honda’s engine project came ‘immediately’ after their withdrawal from the sport was confirmed.

Millions and millions of pounds worth of development was included in the magazine, and, according to Asaki, it was presented in a way that was ‘easy for the general public to understand’.

Of course, it wasn’t just the general public that was interested in reading it – the rest of the F1 grid also managed to snag the issue. Honda’s reasoning behind the decision was reportedly due to the fact that ‘many people’ within the Japanese brand firmly believed Honda would not be returning to F1.

Not anywhere near as soon as they actually did, anyway. Asaki goes on to detail how he has some regret for not putting a stop to the publication of such details, and highlighted how he feels somewhat responsible.

Of course, it didn’t take long at all for Honda to return to F1, with the continuation of their technical partnership with Red Bull starting again from the 2022 season.

“Some time later, a Red Bull official said to me, ‘Why on earth did Honda publish a magazine like that? The people at Mercedes were absolutely delighted,'” Asaki wrote.

The reason why Mercedes in particular were so excited about the issue was due to Red Bull’s usurping of them in the 2021 title race. The Silver Arrows still claimed an eighth consecutive constructors’ championship, but Max Verstappen’s drivers’ championship threatened their future dominance.

According to Asaki, Mercedes were ‘most wary’ of Honda in terms of rival manufacturers on the grid, and were hoping to ‘do something about them’ through learning of the very secrets that catapulted Red Bull to the top of F1’s food chain.

He also believes Red Bull’s engine development efforts for the 2026 regulations were aided by the release, too, as well as the fact that a lot of Honda engineers moved to Milton Keynes following their withdrawal.