Meet the aerospace engineer helping guide Honda Racing Corp. USA's future

PORTLAND, Ore. — Kelvin Fu joined Honda nearly a decade ago back when its racing division was known as Honda Performance Development.

Today, it's called Honda Racing Corp. USA and has around 220 employees. Fu is vice president overseeing Honda's racing programs in North America, headlined by IndyCar and the International Motor Sports Association.

Fu is based in Valencia, Calif., but often finds himself at racetracks across the U.S., such as Portland International Raceway for the Grand Prix of Portland here.

It's a notable time at Honda Racing, both in the U.S. and in Japan. Honda will supply engines and partner with Aston Martin's Formula One team starting in 2026. The automaker has said Honda Racing Corp. USA will be involved in Formula One power unit development and race support alongside Honda Racing Corp. in Japan.

Fu spoke with Staff Reporter Jack Walsworth. Here are edited excerpts.

Q: Have you always been involved in racing?

A: Oh, gosh no. I was in aerospace for 10, 15 years. Somebody who worked at my old aerospace job went to [Honda Performance Development] and I ran into her at lunch. When I went over to HPD, I was manager for aero vehicle performance and chassis design for a while and then kind of moved around since then.

Were you a car enthusiast or race fan prior to working at Honda?

I was a race fan. I was more [Formula One] and then educated myself in IndyCar when I joined. But if you're an engineer, it's either cars [or] planes. If you're in Southern California, it generally goes to planes because aerospace is there.

With Honda Racing in the U.S. getting more involved in Formula One in the coming years, is the division growing in size or departments?

Right now, we're pretty much looking at holding. And if — if — we work more with Japan on F1, then I think it'll grow from that perspective. But we're just starting working with them.

With the cost cap that F1 has, you've got to be really careful about all this stuff too. We're looking at each other a bit, and there's been a couple of small projects going back and forth and we're just making sure it all works out and it's smooth. Because with a cost cap, you can't afford to make too big a mistake. You've got to be very careful about where you put your money. We want to make sure that we're serving them properly. We've started pretty small and if it grows, and they need us, we'd be thrilled to be able to work with them more, more and more. Then we'll grow that part of it. But we've got IndyCar, we've got [the International Motor Sports Association]. Those are two pretty big programs.

Honda Racing Corp. USA has said it will be more involved in Formula One power unit development starting in 2026, or is that already starting?

2026 is when the new power unit comes out. We're already working with them in a small way. I've read all the cost cap rules, so we have implemented the proper systems at [Honda Racing Corp. USA]. We've got a couple people starting to have some collaboration with them.

What's the feeling like inside the building with getting more involved?

It's more just potential right now because it's been a pretty small information exchange. There's been more visits from people from HRC Japan, and then we've gone over and visited them.

Looking at IndyCar, specifically with Honda, there have been reports that it might not renew after the 2026 season. Any updates there?

No. I would say probably not a ton to report right now. We're evaluating and we're talking to IndyCar, and then we're just gonna have to see where it all goes. Really, this is stuff I think we go through every few years with it. It's a bit more public these days, but we always evaluate series and what makes sense and where we're gonna go as we go forward.