The season finale of this year’s Abu Dhabi GP gave a Max Verstappen his first world title in his career and at Honda the satisfaction of seeing a driver driven by his own engine return to conquer the world championship crown exactly 30 years after Ayrton Senna’s last triumph. The Japanese company has thus completed a long journey that from the infamous “GP2 Engine”Of 2015 led it to break the Mercedes hegemony in the hybrid era. The constructors’ title has not arrived – missed by 28 points – but the historical significance of the Verstappen-Red Bull-Honda success is not reduced.
Having reached the peak, however, it is already time for the Tokyo house to say goodbye. Although the collaboration with the Milton Keynes team regarding the power units is set to last over the next few years, the Honda brand will no longer be present on the Red Bull and AlphaTauri cars. A farewell from champions that the former world champion Damon Hill, today columnist for the F1 Nation podcast, compared it to Nico Rosberg’s in 2016. The German also left F1 after finally managing to defeat Hamilton. “It’s kind of like with Rosberg, they left us while they were winning, again“, Joked the former British driver.
“But in many ways it might be the best way to leave – added Hill – winning the championship. Otherwise there is just even more hard work [da fare]”. The former Williams driver then remarked that the really important part of a success lies in the journey one takes, rather than in reaching the goal itself. “There are some who will say [che il bello] it is the path, the battle, the continuous struggle. Not the ending. [Il finale] sometimes it can almost become a disappointment, because suddenly you find yourself [a pensare] ‘Well, what do I do now?’ You need to start all over again. But to Honda I say ‘Well done. What an amazing result, I’m sorry to see you go ‘“.
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