The Honda RA301 was a Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 racing car produced by Honda Racing for the 1968 Formula One season

1968 Formula One season

The 1968 Formula One season included the 19th FIA Formula One World Championship season, which commenced on January 1, 1968, and ended on November 3 after twelve races.-Season summary:...

. It was introduced during the 1968 Spanish Grand Prix

1968 Spanish Grand Prix

The 1968 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jarama Circuit on May 12, 1968. It was the second round of the 1968 Formula One season. It was the first race after the death of former double World Champion Jim Clark, who had died in a non-championship Formula Two event in...

, the second round of the season.

The car was an update of the previous season's RA300

Honda RA300

The Honda RA300 was a Formula One racing car produced by Honda Racing, and introduced halfway through the 1967 Formula One season. It retained the same V12 engine as the preceding RA273 car, but the chassis was designed by Lola's Eric Broadley and based on a previous Lola Indianapolis 500 car...

, using the same RA273E engine. As Honda was also focused on developing the air-cooled RA302

Honda RA302

The Honda RA302 was a Formula One racing car produced by Honda Racing, and introduced by Honda Racing France during the 1968 Formula One season. The car was built based on the order by Soichiro Honda to develop an air-cooled Formula One engine...

, the RA301's development suffered and Surtees only managed a best of second place in the France

1968 French Grand Prix

The 1968 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Rouen-Les-Essarts Circuit on 7 July 1968. It was the sixth round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :* Milestones:** 1st Win - Jacky Ickx...

. Poor reliability saw him managing to finish just two other races.

The car was planned to be replaced by the RA302 at the 1968 French Grand Prix

1968 French Grand Prix

The 1968 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Rouen-Les-Essarts Circuit on 7 July 1968. It was the sixth round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :* Milestones:** 1st Win - Jacky Ickx...

, but Surtees refused to drive the new car because of safety concerns. After the death of Jo Schlesser

Jo Schlesser

Joseph Schlesser was a Formula One and sports car racing driver from France. He participated in three World Championship Grands Prix, including the 1968 French Grand Prix in which he was killed...

 at that race, Surtees again refused to drive the RA302 at the 1968 Italian Grand Prix

1968 Italian Grand Prix

The 1968 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Monza Autodrome on September 8, 1968. It was the ninth round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...

, and the RA301 was used until the end of the season.

With Honda's withdrawal from Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 at the end of the season, the RA301 was the last F1 car raced by Honda until the 2006 Formula One season

2006 Formula One season

The 2006 Formula One season was the 57th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 2006 FIA Formula One World Championship which began on March 12 and ended on October 22 after eighteen races. The Drivers' Championship was won by Fernando Alonso of Renault F1 for the second year in a...

's Honda RA106

Honda RA106

The Honda RA106 was the car with which the Honda team competed in the Formula One season. It was driven by Rubens Barrichello, who joined from Ferrari, and Jenson Button, who had spent three seasons with the team as British American Racing...

.

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(results in bold indicate pole position; results in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Points	WCC
	Honda Racing	Honda 3.0 V8 V8 engine A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....			RSA 1968 South African Grand Prix The 1968 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami Circuit on January 1, 1968. It was the first round of the 1968 Formula One season. The race, contested over 73 laps, was won by two time World Drivers' Champion and 1965 Indianapolis 500 winner Jim Clark for Lotus-Ford...	ESP 1968 Spanish Grand Prix The 1968 Spanish Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Jarama Circuit on May 12, 1968. It was the second round of the 1968 Formula One season. It was the first race after the death of former double World Champion Jim Clark, who had died in a non-championship Formula Two event in...	MON 1968 Monaco Grand Prix The 1968 Monaco Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Monte Carlo Circuit on May 26, 1968. It was the third round of the 1968 Formula One season. The race was won by Lotus driver Graham Hill, who started from pole position...	BEL 1968 Belgian Grand Prix The 1968 Belgian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit on June 9, 1968. It was the fourth round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :* This was the first race where wings were used on an F1 car...	NED 1968 Dutch Grand Prix The 1968 Dutch Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Zandvoort Circuit on June 23, 1968. It was the fifth round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Qualifying :- Race :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...	FRA 1968 French Grand Prix The 1968 French Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Rouen-Les-Essarts Circuit on 7 July 1968. It was the sixth round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :* Milestones:** 1st Win - Jacky Ickx...	GBR 1968 British Grand Prix The 1968 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Brands Hatch Circuit on July 20, 1968. It was the seventh round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :* Records:** 100th Grand Prix start - Jack Brabham...	GER 1968 German Grand Prix The 1968 German Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Nürburgring on August 4, 1968. It was the eighth round of the 1968 Formula One season...	ITA 1968 Italian Grand Prix The 1968 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Monza Autodrome on September 8, 1968. It was the ninth round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...	CAN 1968 Canadian Grand Prix The 1968 Canadian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Mont-Tremblant Circuit on September 22, 1968. It was the tenth round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :-Standings after the race:Drivers' Championship standings...	USA 1968 United States Grand Prix The 1968 United States Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on October 6, 1968 at the Watkins Glen Grand Prix Race Course in Watkins Glen, New York. It was the eleventh round of the 1968 Formula One season.__FORCETOC__-Summary:...	MEX 1968 Mexican Grand Prix The 1968 Mexican Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at the Hermanos Rodriguez Autodrome on November 3, 1968. It was the twelfth and final round of the 1968 Formula One season.- Classification :- Notes :*Pole position: Jo Siffert - 1:45.22...	14	6th
				John Surtees John Surtees John Surtees, OBE is a British former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver from England. He was 500cc motorcycle World Champion in 1956 and 1958–60, Formula One World Champion in 1964, and remains the only person to have won World Championships on both two and four wheels...		Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	2	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	3	Ret
				David Hobbs								Ret
	Anglo-Suisse Racing Team Ecurie Bonnier Ecurie Bonnier, Ecurie Suisse, Joakim Bonnier Racing Team and Anglo-Suisse Racing Team were names used by Swedish racing driver Joakim Bonnier to enter his own cars in Formula One , Formula Two and sports car racing between 1957 and his death in 1972...	Honda 3.0 V8 V8 engine A V8 engine is a V engine with eight cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of four cylinders, in most cases set at a right angle to each other but sometimes at a narrower angle, with all eight pistons driving a common crankshaft....		Jo Bonnier												5